Inuyasha Regashi
by GOTA-93
Summary: Two mysterious, hanyou children appear in the feudal era. where they bump into inuyasha and the gang. What is their connection with Kagome and Inuyasha, and why do they want the Tetsusaiga? A little bit of OOC, but hey...its called character development. And rated T for adult themes BUT NO ADULT ACTION. (sorry hentai fans.)
1. Chapter 1:prologue

Inuyasha Regashi

Author's Note:

This is probably going to be a short fanfic. No more than 10 chapters. If it goes over, oh well. Im trying to complete it by the end of the summer.

R&R and most of all ENJOY!

Prologue: journey.

Smoke filled the air as a raging fire consumed a nearby village. Three figures were running through the forest being chased by demons.

When they arrived at the clearing, they stood in front of a well.

" Go on! you don't have much time!" said the first person. He was a fox demon with mid-back length hair that appeared to be in his twenties

"NO! IM NOT LEAVING MY FATHER ALONE!" said the second boy. He was in his early teenage years with black dog ears and black hair tied into a small ponytail wearing a short olive green with white asterisks. Around his hands and feet were bandages and a katana strapped to his back. His eyes were striking amber that was alight with anger and desperation.

"LOOK KID, DO YOU WANT TO DIE? IF YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SISTER DIE, ALL THAT YOUR FATHER IS FIGHTING FOR WILL BE FOR NOTHING!" the fox demon said.

"Mama! I want my Mama!" a little girl cried, clutching to her older brother's kimono. Her hair and ears was a silvery white tied into a bun with a purple ribbon. She wore a pink and yellow kimono with a cherry blossom design. Her eyes were a deep brown and soaked with tears.

"KID, IM NOT GOING TO ARGUE WITH YOU!" the fox demon reiterated.

"BULLSHIT!" the boy spat.

The demons were rushing out of the forest swimming through the air, their mouths dripping with poisonous saliva anticipating their next kill.

Then, out of desperation, the fox demon turned to the boy and the girl, "GET OUTTA HERE!" He yelled as he kicked both of them down the well (300 style)

The children both yelled as they fell down the well, engulfed in a sea of light. The last thing that they heard was a gut wrenching scream.

Well? What do you think? your Reviews would be gladly appreciated =] ( except the negative ones. those will not be tolerated.)


	2. Chapter 2:mysterious children

I would like to take a minute thank Tani Hunter for my first review! Thanks so much =3

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Inuyasha Regashi chapter 1: Mysterious Children

Inuyasha, Kagome and the gang sat around a fire preparing for their evening meal. "*sigh* Fish, again." Inuyasha complained. "And not even big fish. This fish is barely bigger than my hand. Hey Kagome, do you have any more ninja food"

"Inuyasha, you should be thankful for what you receive. It could be nothing at all, you know." Miroku chided.

"Sorry, Inuyasha, we ate those a few days ago. And I know you probably won't be letting me go back home any time soon, right?" Kagome said

"Well, if you go back _just _to get food, I won't mind _that_ much. But I'm worried that you will take forever because of 'school' or whatever." Inuyasha replied.

"Well, I'm sorry if I take great concern when it comes to my education! In my time, education is everything! And if you don't have a good education, you might as well kiss your chances of having a successful life goodbye!" Kagome retorted.

"Inuyasha, give Kagome a break. She has her future to look out for. When the shikon no tama is complete, there is no doubt that she will want to return to her old life. So in anticipation to that, she should be free to study as she pleases." Sango chimed.

Inuyasha didn't like to think of that, but that was the reality. The feudal era was not her real home. She had a family on the other side, as well as other friends. It was a very good possibility that she would want to go back home. 'But what about me? What will I do?' Inuyasha thought.

"FEH! I hate it when you guys always gang up on me! Whatever!" Inuyasha attempted to brush it off.

"We're not doing it intentionally, Inuyasha. It's just that not everything that comes out of your mouth is appropriate or kind." Miroku corrected.

"Feh." Was all that he could utter. He reached into the fire and grabbed a skewered fish and silently sulked.

…._not far away from Inuyasha and company…_

"Ugh, where the heck are we? The boy groaned." He stood to his feet and looked up towards the opening of the well.

"Ouch! Itaru, my ankle…!" the little girl moaned. The boy called Itaru kneeled over his little sister and took a look at her ankle. It was swollen and bruised black and blue all over.

"Crap, looks like you sprained your ankle." Itaru said. "*sigh* well Mei-mei, I guess that means you will have to ride on my back for a while. It will probably get better by tomorrow, I'm guessing." Itaru bent down and let his little sister mount his back. Itaru looked to the top of the well. "I don't think that this well is too deep…" and with that, Itaru jumped out of the well. It was sunset and the sky was a burning red.

'Such a beautiful sunset…' Itaru thought. "We'd better get going. It will be dark soon and demons will be crawling around for sure." Itaru said. Mei-mei shivered at the thought. She was terribly afraid of them. "Big brother, are you sure we will find them?" Mei-mei asked. "Of course we will! All we need to do is track them."

The two siblings observed their surroundings. "It doesn't look like it has changed a bit. More or less trees here or there, but other than that, it's all the same." Itaru thought out loud. The two started walking into the forest. The shadows cast by the retreating light looked eerie to little Mei-mei. She snuggled closer into her brother's back. "Its okay, Mei-mei. If any demon decides to rear its ugly head, ill protect you." Itaru said with a reassuring smile. "You were last training with Papa, weren't you, Itaru?" Mei-mei asked. "Yeah, I was. That's why it really pisses me off that he is making me run away like a coward!" Itaru said. "I should be fighting with him right by his side! If anyone should be running, it's _you_" Itaru sneered. "HEY! What's that supposed to mean! I can fight just as well thank you!" Mei-mei retorted. "feh! Yeah, swinging toys around are REAL dangerous!" "My *sakuruburedo are weapons too!"Mei-mei defended. "Yeah, and my left foot is an ancient relic! Hahahaa!" Itaru teased.

"You big fat meanie! You know that I—"

"HUSH!" Itaru hissed, cutting her off. His black dog ears picked up the slightest sound. He sniffed the air and caught the scent of a youkai. "We are being followed…" Itaru said in a hushed tone. Itaru turned around to meet eyes with several youkai. All of them were growling, hungry for blood.

"Shit!" Itaru cursed.

Inuyasha sat in a tree, still brooding over what had happened earlier that evening. He was not far away from the group, but far enough away to not be seen.

'I wonder what Kagome will do when we complete the shikon no tama? Will she leave? KeH, of course she will. There isn't much going around here. Back in her time, there are metal carriages that can move by themselves, her house is a freaking mansion, compared to this age's standards. And evil isn't much of a problem there. And there are no demons there to. I wonder where they have all gone? Have they all gone into—"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called. "I hope you're not sitting up there sulking again!"

"FEH! What do you care?" Inuyasha spat.

"Ugh, Inuyasha, I don't want to be mad at you. And I know you don't want to be mad at me either. So can you put this to rest and come down?"

"No thanks. I'd rather not join people that make me feel like a dumb ass all the time." Inuyasha answered.

"Inuyasha, none of us ever said that and you know it!" Kagome said

"Actions speak louder than words, I know that much!" Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, you know all of us value you and know that you are more than what you let us see. It's just hard to remember that when you're acting, well, not so nice."

"feh." Was all that he said.

Kagome sighed and sat down at the base of the tree and decided to just read until Inuyasha's hissy fit passed. She decided to settle for studying her poems for literature class. 'Hmmm, I have to memorize five poems by the time I get back home. This one is by Matsuo Basho…

Another year is gone;

and I still wear

straw hat and straw sandal.

Hmm… what am I supposed to get out of this one? Oh, maybe it's describing the fact that many people of today live each day to day by the skin of their teeth and never get any farther than what they already are."

She turned the page in her poetry book. "Oh, these are from the Ise Monogatari:

Since I last saw you,

it seems to have grown until

I am the taller -

my height that we two measured

against the curb of the well.

The mid-parted hair—"

"I once measured against yours

hangs towards my waist.

For whom should it be put up,

unless it be for you?"

Kagome looked up and realized that Inuyasha had filled in where she had left off.

"Is he journeying

alone in the dead of night

across that mountain

whose name recalls waves at sea

rising when the tempest blows?"

"Inuyasha…"

Inuyasha paused before speaking again. "While my mother was alive, we stayed with her relatives. My mother was from a noble family, so she thought it would be fitting if I were educated like one. I can read and write pretty well, I know basic arithmetic; she taught me a few poems and even taught me a little astronomy. She was the only one that would teach me, of course."

"Wow, Inuyasha, I didn't know all that! See? I knew that you were smarter than what you make yourself out to be." Kagome complimented.

"Its… it's sort of a defense for me now. Everyone hates hanyous, but what they hate _more_ is a wise-ass hanyou. But the knowledge that my mother gave to me, it is some of the gifts that she left for me."

"Inuyasha, I know how hard that must have been for you to confess." Kagome said.

"Heh, I guess I'm sort of jealous of you in some aspects. You live in a world where anyone can learn. No matter what background or what their heritage is. Knowledge is free for all in your world. But not here and definitely not for me; most of what I have learned on my own is how to live another day." Inuyasha said matter-of-factly.

"Oh Inuyasha…" Kagome sighed. She looked down at her books 'perhaps, Inuyasha, I could teach you a thing or two…" Kagome thought.

Suddenly, Kagome saw Inuyasha stand up all of a sudden, completely alert.

"Inuyasha. What's wrong?"

"I smell blood. And youkai too…!"

* * *

Dun dun dun! What will happen next?

I was going to make this a longer chapter but it's going on midnight and I need to wake up for work at 4:30. College tuition won't pay for itself! XD

Sakuruburedo: circular blades


	3. Chapter 3:fateful meeting

Thanks everyone for your gracious reviews!

Oh yeah I forgot to mention I DO NOT OWN INUYASHA ANIME, MANGA OR ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH IT. IF I DID, I WOULD NOT BE MAKING A FANFICTION OF MY OWN CREATION. THAT WOULD BE A LITTLE REDUNDANT. =/

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 3: Fateful meeting

Itaru sprinted through the forest dodging trees and bushes with Mei-mei on his back, the youkai in hot pursuit. "Hurry, Itaru, they're gaining on us!" Mei-mei cried. One of the youkai lunged for Itaru, but he swiftly dodged it. He jumped off of the head of his assailant and gave him a swift kick in the jaw. The youkai howled in pain and fell back, only to be replaced by another. The youkai tried to tackle Itaru, hoping to knock him down, but he was too swift for them. "Faster, Itaru, faster!" Mei-mei cried. Another youkai lunged at him, and he again dodged the attack. "HA! You really think you can catch me?" itaru teased turning around. But Mei-mei looked behind them and saw a snake demon sneak up behind them "ITARU! LOOK OUT!" she screamed. But it was too late. The snake demon plunged its razor sharp fangs into his leg, injecting venom into his system. He howled in pain and punched the snake demon as hard as he could. But the snake demon was still lodged in his leg. Mei-mei reached to her waist and retrieved a circular blade " SAKURU-HA!" she cried as she slashed the snake demon's throat, causing it to release Itaru's leg. "Good thinking, Mei-mei! Maybe your sakuruburedo are not toys after all!" Itaru said wincing. He still was able to run, but knew it would only be a matter of time before the venom reached his heart, his vision was already starting to blur. When they came into a clearing, their path was blocked by a huge cliff that brought Itaru to a screeching stop.

"DAMMIT! There's no other way around! It looks like we have to take a stand, Mei-mei! Itaru set Mei-mei down and he took a battle stance.

"Itaru, im scared!" Mei-mei cried

"We don't have the option to be afraid, Mei-mei! What would father think?"

Mei-mei only whimpered.

Itaru reached for his sword, but only grabbed air. '_Its not there!'. _"MY SWORD! WHERE IS MY SWORD?" he said in a panic. One of the demons, as if to taunt him, held up the short katana with a red sheath.

'DAMN!' Itaru cursed. Then suddenly, his knees gave out. And black dots floated before his eyes. 'No…it…cant…end like this…'

"ITARU!" Mei-mei screamed as she ran over to her mortally wounded brother. The youkai, seeing their prey weakened lunged toward them. The two braced for impact, until suddenly, a black silhouette appeared against the moon jumping off of the cliff above them. When the moon illuminated his features, the children could see that it was a hanyou with golden eyes and silver hair wearing a blood red kimono.

"Its him!" Mei-mei cried."its really him!"

Itaru could only look through his ever fainting vision and only saw the outline of his figure. "Feh, that was easy…" he whispered as he fainted.

" HEY you ugly youkai, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" the hanyou challenged as he lunged toward the pack of youkai. Ripping them to shreds one by one. "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" the youkai fell apart screeching and hissing in pain. From behind Mei-mei and the unconscious Itaru, three humans and a fox demon ran towards them. "Are you alright?" one of the humans said. She wore a purple and white kimono with her hair tied in a low, loose ponytail. "My brother…!" Mei-mei whimpered. The other human, appearing to be a Buddhist monk, took Itaru's pulse. "His pulse is dropping rapidly and his breathing is very labored." The monk lifted his leg to reveal two rather large fang bites with the skin around the wound turned purple and black. "We have to get him to Kaede's village right away!" the other human said. She only appeared to be a mere teenager with strange clothes. "Don't worry, you guys! I'll take care of this!" the little fox demon declared. "TRANSFORM!" with a poof of smoke,the little fox demon turned into a giant floating ball. "Put him on me!" the fox demon said. The humans and Mei-mei heaved Itaru on to the transformed fox demon. The teenage human lifted her and Mei-mei on as well. "Hurry, Shippo! We don't have much time!" she said. "we will stay behind and help Inuyasha!" the monk said. Inuyasha was still fending off the demons when Shippo airlifted them to Kaede's village.

'Oh Itaru, please stay alive!'

~*0*~

When Itaru opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark room in a wooden hut. 'Where am I this time?' He sat up but winced at the tremendous pain in his leg. 'Oh, now I remember. We were attacked by demons.' But then he perked up in realization. 'Mei-mei? Where's Mei-mei?'. His heart pounded in a panic as he got up despite the tremendous pain he was in. He shuffled towards the door and drew back the bamboo door cover. He was blinded by the light of the sun, but soon saw people going to and fro around the village. 'I gotta find Mei-mei!' he thought. He sniffed the air and went behind the hut he was in. Mei-Mei was playing with a cat demon with two tails with a circle of strangers around her. Mei-mei turned around and stood up "Itaru!" she ran over to her big brother and gave him a big hug. "Hey there, squirt!" Itaru chuckled weakly. "Hey there, you are supposed to be resting. Your wound won't heal properly if you keep walking around on it like that." The monk said.

"Don't worry about me. I just wanted to know where my little sister was." He smiled down at his little sister, stroking her silvery hair.

"Hey, kid, did you lose this?" the hanyou said gruffly as he tossed his short katana to him. Itaru managed to catch it.

"Now go back to bed, we don't need your wound reopening again." The teenage human said.

"Im fine. Honestly. And im not a kid." The Itaru huffed. He sat down on the ground with the strangers ; who all, except the hanyou looked at him with inquisitive eyes.

"So lets start with our names: Im Kagome…" she said pointing to herself. "and this is Sango" Kagome said pointing to the human with the low ponytail. "and her friend Kirara…" Kirara mewed in acknowledgement. "This here is Miroku." She said pointing to the monk "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Miroku greeted politely. "And im Shippo!" the little fox demon jumped up to the two children. "Yeah, and that's Shippo, haha" and then Kagome turned around and pointed to the hanyou "and this is Inuyasha." Inuyasha only grunted with his eyes closed. Itaru stared intently at Inuyasha. When he felt like he was being watched, he opened his eyes and stared right back. "You gotta problem, kid?"

"Whats the matter with just looking at you?" Itaru replied.

"I gotta problem when you _stare_ at me as if you KNOW me or somethin'!" Inuyasha spat.

"So what? Maybe you remind me of someone? Is that a crime?" Itaru retorted.

"WELL WHOEVER YOU THINK THAT I AM, YOU'RE DEAD WRONG! I'VE NEVER SEEN YOU A DAY IN MY LIFE!" Inuyasha said, now raising his voice.

"Up yours!" Itaru said.

"You got some nerve kid…!" Inuyasha growled, rolling up his sleeves, preparing to punch him.

"Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome commanded.

Before Inuyasha could take a step towards the boy, he face planted in the ground with a painful yelp.

"Im sorry, but you guys didn't get a chance to tell us your names." Sango interjected.

"Oh that's easy! Im Mei-Mei, and this is my big brother Itaru!" Mei-mei said cheerfully. Itaru failed to acknowledge his introduction, because he was locked in a staring contest with Inuyasha.

"so, Mei-mei and Itaru, where are you from?" Miroku asked.

"Oh! Well we come from the fu—" Mei-mei was cut off by a sudden hand slapped to her mouth"

" Umm well, we come from a village not far from here!" Itaru interjected.

"What were you guys doing out so late last night?" Miroku continued. "You should know that deep forests like the ones here are almost always infested with some sort of demon."

"Well, what were _you _guys doing out so late at night?" Itaru countered.

"Answer the question at hand, please." Miroku said, a little annoyed at his attempt to change the subject.

"We are looking for the shards of the shikon no tama!" Shippo said.

"OH WOW! What a coincidence! We are looking for them too!" Itaru said scratching his head.

"And what do _you_ need the shikon no tama for? Kids like you should go back home; this isnt some pretend adventure. Demons and humans alike are looking for them. And if they possess just even _one _shard, it multiples their powers a hundred-fold." Inuyasha warned.

"S-s-so what? We need to avenge our…our…our parents' deaths! We are going to find the monster that did that!" Itaru said with false determination.

"The person that killed your parents: would his name happen to be Naraku?" Sango inquired.

"Y-y-yeah! That's him!"

"Will the tally of broken lives not cease until that demon is vanquished?" Miroku said with a heavy sigh.

"We are extremely sorry. We promise that we will destroy Naraku and avenge your parents deaths." Kagome assured.

"Uhh no way! I have to kill Naraku with my bare hands! It's the only way that I can avenge them!" Itaru continued.

"Like I said _before_ kid, this isnt some game! This is really dangerous! So just shut up and butt out of it!" Inuyasha said.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY THAT! HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF TWO OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE WAS SNATCHED AWAY FROM YOU IN AN INSTANT, HUH?" Itaru shouted. 'Wow, im getting really good at this whole acting thing' Itaru smiled inwardly 'They're actually buying it!'

"LOOK, KID: WE ARE JUST TRYING TO STOP YOU FROM DIGGING YOUR OWN GRAVE!" Inuyasha roared.

"I DON'T CARE! IM GOING TO PAY HIM BACK FOR MY PARENT'S LIVES! AND IM _NOT _A KID!" Itaru retorted.

"CANT YOU TAKE A HINT AND GET LOST?" Inuyasha spat

"WHY DON'T YO COME OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE?"

"GLADLY!"

Inuyasha and Itaru were now head to head with each other growling.

"Itaru!" Mei-mei pleaded.

"Inuyasha! Leave him alone! If they want to come, then let them!" Kagome defended.

"WHAT? Why are you siding with _them_?" Inuyasha said.

"Im not siding with _anybody!_" Kagome said.

"Like hell you aren't!"

"SIT BOY!"

"D'OHHH!" Inuyasha made another face plant by the enchanted beads.

"Of course you may accompany us." Miroku said.

"The more the merrier I always say!" Kagome said cheerfully.

"Really?" Mei-mei said.

Kagome nodded and Mei-mei ran over to kagome in a strong embrace.

'Wow. This is gonna be a piece of cake! All I have to do is get the Tetsusaiga and get back home!' Itaru thought.


	4. Chapter 4:issues and mischief

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 3: issues and mischief

It was already the afternoon of the next day when our heroes set out to find the next jewel shard. Now with two new friends to accompany them, things were going to be even more interesting

"Itaru and Mei-mei, I couldn't help but notice that you have ears and claws much like Inuyasha's. Could that be that you two also are inu hanyou as well?" Sango asked.

"Umm yeah you could say that." Itaru said lightly.

"And we have tails too!" Mei-mei pointed out grabbing Itaru's black tail. Itaru instantaneously became weak and fell to the ground.

"Tails, huh? Inuyasha, where's _your_ tail?" Shippo asked, preparing to look down Inuyasha's pants. But Inuyasha clocked him in the head just in time. "I DON'T HAVE A TAIL YOU IDIOT!" Inuyasha shouted.

"UGH! MEI-MEI! DON'T TOUCH MY TAIL! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?" Itaru yelld in a rage.

"Im sorry, Itaru! I didn't mean to pull that hard" Mei-mei apologized.

"YOU BETTER BE SORRY OR ILL MAKE YOU SORRY!" Itaru warned, rolling up his sleeves.

Mei-mei ran away and hid behind Inuyasha.

"Umm, what just happened?" Kagome asked.

*sigh* "Well, if you gotta know, our tails are really sensitive. So whenever someone pulls on it or anything, we get really weak."

Inuyasha smiled a mischievous smile. "Is that so?"

"Hmm. Okay then, Inuyasha you will not touch their tails. If you do, you will be punished with a 'sit'"

At the word 'sit' inuyasha's face met the dirt.

"Oops! That one was an accident, really!" Kagome apologized.

"OH SURE IT WAS!" Inuyasha said sarcastically.

"Here, Ill help you up!" Mei-mei said sweetly, offering her hand to the pride-wounded Inuyasha. Inuyasha looked up to the little girl. 'Her smile…why does it look so… familiar?'

"Its alright, I can get up by myself." Inuyasha grunted.

Mei-mei continued to to look up to Inuyasha with her big brown eyes. Then all of a sudden, she tackled him for a hug.

"Eh? Whats all this about? Why are you hugging me? we just met yesterday, and you're already attacking me?"

"Its because I love you, silly!" Mei-mei giggled

"L-l-love me?" Inuyasha had to pry her off of his legs so that he could move. "Look, kid, I know we saved your life and all, but that doesn't make us bosom buddies. Got that?"

"Y-y-you don't l-l-love m-m-e…?" Mei-mei said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"H-hey, calm down, kid! Its not that I don't like you, its just that…well… we just met and we need time to…y'know…get to know each other…"

This didn't stop little Mei-mei's tears from falling down her little cheeks.

"Aww now look what you did, Inuyasha! You made the poor girl cry!" Shippo scolded

"H-hey, don't cry…"

"Just you wait and see, Inuyasha…."

"huh?"

"**YOU'RE GOING TO LOOOOOOVEEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" ** Mei-mei screamed in a murderous, psychopathic fashion

The unexpected verbal assault from the seemingly harmless child, was enough to knock Inuyasha down. "OKAY OKAY! I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU!" Inuyasha said in surrender.

"yay!" Mei-mei said returning to her sweet self.

"what was that?" Miroku said nervously.

"Oh she can get like that sometimes. Hehe" Itaru explained.

The gang continued on for another three hours on the same path, until they came to a fork in the road.

"Well I say we go this way!" Inuyasha declared.

"_You_ say? Who put you in charge?" Shippo said.

"Yes Inuyasha, I believe we should proceed in the direction we were already going." Miroku said

"No way! This is the quickest way to get where we are going! I can smell Naraku's putrid stench from here!"

"Well, I can sense a shikon shard from _here_!" Kagome challenged

"I agree with Inuyasha. If we can take out naraku first, we can make sure that he doesn't get it, wherever it is." Sango said.

"Sango…" Kagome said.

"well, what happens if the shikon shards fall into the hands of another youkai? What then?" Kagome argued.

"well, we beat the holy hell out of them like we always do!" inuyasha retorted.

"why go through the trouble, when you can avoid the whole situation in the firstplace?" miroku said.

"Why let Naraku follow us right to where the shikon shard is?" said Sango.

Before they knew it all four of the adults were arguing on which way to go. The kids could only watch and stare.

"LOOK, _Im _the leader here so we are _going this way!"_ Inuyasha commanded.

"well, for someone who is a leader, you're doing a terrible job!"

"I _know _ this is the right way, Miroku! We need to go this way!"

"Sango, please, when a woman is angry it is hard for her to think rationally. So please calm down and see my point of view…" miroku said

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME LIKE THAT, MIROKU!" Sango shouted, whacking his head with the hiraikostu."

All three of the kids sighed over the so called 'mature' adults' squabbles. 'Father said that they would fight a lot. but I didn't know this much…'

"Cant we just split up?" Shippo offered.  
his answer was a loud and unified "NO!"

"WE ARE _STAYING_ IN THE DIRECTION WE ARE GOING!" Kagome commanded

Suddenly, Shippo saw Itaru stiffen "Um, Itaru, are you okay?"

"o-o-oh y-yeah! I-I-I'm g-g-great!" he said through his teeth.

"COME ON,YOU IDIOT!" Inuyasha commanded back.

Then, mei-mei seemingly flew through the air and slammed right into Inuyasha.

"H-Hey! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Inuyasha spat

"hehe, I saw a butterfly on your head!" Mei-mei said.

"theres no butterfly on my head!" inuyasha said.

"well there isnt one now" Mei-mei replied.

"INUYASHA, IM NOT GOING TO SAY IT AGAIN! WE ARE GOING TO _STAY_ IN THIS DIRECTION!"

Itaru stiffened up even more. His face contorting in obvious agony.

"COME ON, LETS GO!" Inuyasha said. Mei-mei again slammed into Inuyasha.

"NOW I KNOW FOR A FACT THERE WAS NO BUTTERFLY ON MY HEAD! WHAT THE HELL?" Inuyasha yelled.

"WE ARE STAYING IN THIS DIRECTION!"

"YOU ARE COMING THIS WAY!"

Itaru stiffened even more to the point where he could only make grunting noises. And Mei-mei slammed into Inuyasha's body again. Itaru made a very loud grunting noise.

"Itaru, what is it?" Sango asked.

Itaru grunted again in the same manner.

"I think he is trying to say, 'stop'." Shippo guessed.

"Hmm I think I am noticing something. Kagome, say 'stay' again." Miroku said.

Itaru frantically grunted what seemed to resemble a 'no'.

"umm okay…stay?"

Itaru's body contorted even more and now he was completely paralyzed.

"hmmm, I see. Now, Inuyasha, you say 'come'."

"what for?" Inuyasha asked.

"Just do it." Miroku said in an exasperated tone.

"oh alright. Come!"

And again, Mei-mei was lifted into the air and slammed right into Inuyasha, butt first.

"Hmm…"miroku stood and thought for a minute. He walked over to Itaru and reached around his neck and pulled out a string of green beads. "Just as I thought. A chain of enchanted beads." He walked over to Mei-mei and reached around her neck to reveal red enchanted beads.

"so that means that Itaru and Mei-Mei have their own words of subjugation?" Sango asked.

"it appears so." Miroku concluded. "Tell me, you two… where exactly did you receive those enchanted…"

Miroku's question was cut off by a low, but menacing roll of thunder.

"wow, that was quick. I guess we were so caught up in figuring out which way to go, we didn't see it coming." Kagome.

"We really need to go this way, because I know of an inn that is this way." Miroku said.

"okay fine." Inuyasha said.

"lets hurry, too. The storm is approaching fast." Sango reminded. As if to verify the fact, there was another roll of thunder.

It took them 45 minutes for them to finally reach the inn at last. When they entered the inn, the rain began to pour.

"Why, hello friends! Come and shelter yourselves from the storm!" said an elderly lady.

"we need a lodging for seven, please." Miroku requested. "Right this way, please!" the old woman led the group down the hall of the old run down inn. "It has certainly been a while since we had guests! Ever since strange things have been happening in this area, many folk avoided this area. But that has also taken a toll on our business!"

"I am quite sorry to hear that madam." Miroku said sympathetically.

"and aren't you the lucky ones! We were just about to serve supper!" the old lady chimed. "would you like to join us?"

"no thankyou madam. We are quite tired from our journey and would like to have a rest." Miroku said.

"oh foo! Well that is a shame! My four daughters will be quite disappointed!" said the old woman.

"—on second thought, perhaps we can eat a little bit." Miroku said, suddenly having a change of heart.

"Letch." Sango said under her breath

"Alright then, right this way!" the lady said.

When they arrived into the dining room, there was a great table completely set with bowls and cups and food down the middle. "Wow! It all looks so delicious!" Itaru said drooling. "Yummy!" Mei-mei said.

Then the elderly came out of the back room followed by four young ladies.

"My friends, these are my daughters: Miko, Niiko, Shiko, and Riiko. All of the girls bowed in unison and said, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"whatever you youngsters need, just say the word!" the old lady said.

"Alright! Lets eat! Im starved!" Itaru said. The whole crew cheered and ran to take a spot at the table." But Kagome felt uneasy. 'The table was so well prepared, as if… they were expecting us…' Kagome thought. She brushed it off and decided to start eating.

"wow! This food is great! Inuyasha said with his mouth completely full. "Seconds, please!" Mei-mei requested.

"eat as much as you like!" Riiko said.

"would you like some sake?" She offered Sango.

"umm, no thankyou. I don't normally drink." Sango refused.

"and what about you, miss?" Miko said to Kagome. "Oh no thankyou." Kagome said.

"Oh, but you _must _try it! it is absolutely delicious! It is my husbands' own secret recipe!" the old lady insisted.

"Oh I will give it a try, if you insist." Miroku said.

"That's the spirit!" the old lady cheered. Shiko poured him a small cup of sake. Miroku took a sip of it and let out a satisfied 'ahhh'. "delicious _and_ refreshing!" Miroku complimented.

"see? I told you!"

"what I would like is some water." Kagome requested. "Right away, miss!" Niiko said. "Me as well." Sango said.

"yeah, me too!" Inuyasha said with a stuffed mouth. They poured the glasses of all three recipients. "May we have some water as well? Mei-mei asked. "oh dear! It seems as if we have run out of water, I suppose I must go and fetch some more from the river." Niiko said.

Inuyasha, Sango and Kagome reached for their cups of water and drank deep of the cool water—but only to discover that it wasn't water at all. "HEY I thought I said no sake!" Inuyasha complained.

"ugh! I didn't see that coming" Kagome said, choking on the alcohol. "I mean, it tastes very nice, but im just not in the mood tonight." Sango said sincerely.

"Oh Niiko! That clumsy girl! Please forgive her!" the old lady pleaded. She hid her mouth in which she hid a devious smile.

"well if its all the same to everyone else, im heading off to bed." Inuyasha declared.

"me too!" shippo said.

"thank you kindly for the wonderful meal, madam." Miroku said.

"oh anytime, dear, anytime! Would any of you like to take a bath?"

"Oh I would!" Mei-mei chimed. "Itaru, please come take a bath with me!"

"oh alright!" Itaru huffed.

"excellent! I will draw your bath for you!" Miko said.

By the time everyone had gone to their rooms, the storm had passed and the clouds revealed a half moon. Inuyasha and kagome were sitting on the porch of the inn looking into the sky.

"So what do you think of Itaru and Mei-mei? I think they are really adorable."

"mei-mei maybe. But that Itaru kid really irritates me. I still cant shake off that look he gave me when we first met. It was like he knew me or something."

"maybe it was like he said, Inuyasha, maybe you remind him of someone he knew. Maybe his father, even?"

"keh! Sure! Not all of is inu youkai look alike, you know!" inuyasha said.

"I didn't say that. Inuyasha!"

"Feh!"

There was a moments silence in between them.

"kagome…"

"yeah?"

"when we complete the shikon no tama, will you want to return to your world?"

"oh! Well…um…I…uh…"

"if you do want to return, I wont care. Sango is right. You can do whatever you want. Its your life."

"inuyasha, I know you. You do care. If you didn't care, you wouldn't be asking."

"no, I was just curious!" Inuyasha defended.

"Inuyasha, you are such a terrible liar." Kagome said.

"WHAT did you say!"

Kagome gave a deep sigh.

There was another long silence. With only the crickets and frogs in the background.

"look. I told you I would stay here until the bitter end, okay? When the shikon no tama is complete, we will cross that bridge when we get there. But right now, lets plan on gathering the shards instead of planning what we are going to do afterwards!" kagome said.

Inuyasha looked at her long and hard; searching for any sort of insincerity. But as usual, her eyes were pure and deep filled with love and understanding.

Inuyasha turned around in embarrassment and frustration.

There was another silence between them. Until kagome came up with an idea.

"hey, Inuyasha! Since you said your mother taught you some astronomy, show me what you know."

"umm sure. But I think I only remember the basics…well that one of course, is the little dipper." He pointed up. And that over there, is orion…" she showed her a few more constellations and different stars.

"wow, Inuyasha, you know more than I do!"

"feh. Its enough to call yourself 'smart' in this age." inuyasha said lightly

"its absolutely beautiful, tonight." Kaome sighed.

"on nights like these, my mother would let me pick out my own star and she told me that she would tell my father to bring it down so I could have it. and I still remember which one it was."

"where is it?" kagome asked.

"over there."

"Over _where_?"

"over _there_"

"inuyasha, I still cant see!"

Inuyasha came up close behind her and grabbed her hand and used her index finger and his to point out the star. Kagome started to blush. 'Oh, he is so close right now. And he is holding my hand." Her heart started pounding.

"do you see it yet?" inuyasha said impatiently. Kagome snapped out of her thoughts.

"oh… yes! Is it the small but bright one?"

"yup"

"oh wow, what a great choice!"

"yeah, I know. My mother thought so too. She used to say that it was-ah!"

Inuyasha clutched his chest.

"inuyasha! Are you okay?"

"yeah im fine. My chest just hurts. Must have been that food that gave me heartburn."

"hold on a sec, my tongue seems to be sore too. And it feels like its swelling too. I must have eaten something that I was unknowingly allergic to." Kagome explained.

"Lets get back to bed, then."

Inuyasha offered his hand to help kagome up.

They both went to their designated rooms. When Inuyasha returned to his room, miroku was curled up in a fetal postion, sweating from pain.

"hey, inuyasha! I don't know whats wrong with Miroku. He says his body is in pain all over."

"maybe you shouldn't have drank so much sake." Inuyasha said.

"no, Inuyasha, no alcohol, no matter what the grade, none of them produces this kind of hangover!"

"well now that you mentioned it, my chest just started hurting a little bit ago. And I only took one sip! Maybe it is really potent. And kagome's tongue startet to swell up…"

"hmmm. Maybe these are temporary side effects. Perhaps If we get a good nights rest, it will pass through." Miroku thought

"good idea." Inuyasha said.

So they all retired for the evening, and blew the candles out.

~*0*~

In the meantime, the lady inn-keeper, and her four daughters were sitting down in a dark room.

"Excellent, my girls! The magic sake will completely take affect by sunrise tomorrow!"

"oh I cant wait to see the look on their faces!" the girl Niiko said.

"yes, it will be such fun!"said Riiko

"this might be our greatest trick yet!"said Shiko

"but mother, what about the brats? We ran out of magic sake for them!" miko said

"don't you fret your pretty little heads about those little brats! I will take care of them myself!

All of the women laughed an ominous laugh as the old woman drew out a butcher knife.


	5. Chapter 5: little inn of horrors

I just want to take the time and say THANKS thatsoallen for the awesome review! It really made my day!

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 4: Little Inn of Horrors

I don't own Inuyasha. Wish that I did, but unfortunately, I don't.

And just a note, what I have observed in Japanese culture, relatives bathe with each other at times and it's not an embarrassment for them. Correct me if I'm wrong.

While the others had gone to their rooms for the night, Itaru and Meimei went to have a bath.

"Ahh, that sure does hit the spot…!" Itaru sighed. Meimei sat with eyes closed breathing in the relaxing steam. Then she turned to her brother and gave him a mischievous grin. "What are you doing?"Itaru said. "Im a shark! RAWR!" Meimei said as she darted towards her brother. "AHAHAHA! HEY CUT IT OUT!HAHAHAHAA!" Meimei ceased her assault on her brother as they both laughed.

"Itaru?"

"Yeah, Meimei?"

"Why don't they recognize us? I mean, I know that they don't know us at all yet, but why can't they tell that we look a lot like them? Or at least smell us?"

"It's because of these leaves uncle gave us." Itaru said, leaning over to retrieve the leaves that were kept in a brown knapsack.

"Oh! So that's what they are for!"

"Yeah. Uncle said that these leaves will conceal our scents and our appearance so much that they won't figure out who we are."

"That is so clever!" Meimei exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

There was a moment of silence between them.

"So, Itaru, how are we going to save Papa? Couldn't we ask them for help?" Meimei asked. "NO WAY! We can't ask them for help! Inuyasha would never want to get involved!" Itaru rebuked. "B-b-but, I think they would like to help!"

"Absolutely not! All we have to do is get the tetsusaiga to father, let father do his business and then return it! its that simple. There is no need for them to get involved. And besides, Father told us not to bring them back anyways!"

"But that's stupid! We should ask for help!"

"I'm not going to discuss this with you Meimei! I'm in charge so whatever I say, goes! Got it?"

Meimei slipped down under the water in a defeated frown.

Itaru submerged half of his head in the water. Only allowing his eyes to be above.

'I have to find a way to get the tetsusaiga. If I don't, everyone will die. Oh father. If only I was as smart or as strong as you. None of this would be a problem for you.'

When Itaru saw Meimei yawn, he stood up, "Okay, kid, time for bed!"

"awww, but I don't wanna…" she said in a drowsy voice.

"Come on, we need to get you dry." Itaru said grabbing his little sister and lifting her out of the water. He carried his sister back to their room. Her just now starting to fall asleep, but before she did, she said, "Itaru…we will save Mama and Papa. I just know we will…" and with that, she fell asleep.

~*0*~

When Inuyasha woke up, the next morning, he felt really uncomfortable. 'Ugh, my chest feels like I have bricks on it…' "Hey Marko…" he said, but his voice was very high and feminine. 'What the hell? Hmm maybe it's just because I just woke up.' "Miroku!" he tried again. His voice still sounding girly. He decided to walk over and kick him awake. But the figure under the covers was too small to be Miroku. "Hey, Shippo! Where did Miroku go?" "He is right there, inuyasha." Shippo groaned from behind him.

"What?" Inuyasha pulled back the covers and revealed a miniature version of Miroku. 'WHAT THE HELL?'

"Inuyasha, can't a man get some decent rest around here without you—"Miroku said a small voice.

"MIROKU! TAKE A LOOK AT YOURSELF!" Inuyasha said.

Mini Miroku looked up at Inuyasha and through his blurred sleepy vision; he saw two rather large lumps on Miroku's chest. "Yeah, you should take a good look at yourself, Inuyasha. Are those…breasts? Miroku said in his small voice. 'Wait my voice…! Why do I sound like this ?' Inuyasha looked down at his chest and notices the two rather large lumps bulging out of his haori. He took his index finger and poked the firm, but soft lumps. Inuyasha widened his eyes in horror.

"No…NO! WHAT THE FUCK ARE THESE?" Inuyasha cursed.

"May I touch them?" Miroku asked standing up. But when he stood up, he only came about half of Inuyasha's size "W-WH-WHAAAT? Inuyasha, you're….taller!"

"No Miroku! You're _shorter_!"

Shippo finally woke up and said "could you guys keep it down? Me and Itaru are trying to…hey wait a minute…."

He looked both Inuyasha and Miroku. "WHOA! ITARU! WAKE UP! TELL ME IM NOT DREAMING THIS!"

"mmmhmmm…" was all that Shippo got.

"NO wake up you idiot!" Shippo said swatting his head with a paper fan.

"Okay, okay I'm up!" Itaru looked over at Inuyasha and Miroku. Inuyasha looked extremely feminine and Miroku had turned into a child. "See, Shippo, I'm still asleep. Leave me alone." Itaru said rolling over. "NO ITARU! THIS ISNT A DREAM! INUYASHA HAS TURNED INTO A WOMAN AND MIROKU HAS TURNED INTO A CHILD!" Shippo shouted. Itaru woke up again and took another look at Inuyasha and Miroku. Itaru's eyes grew big with disbelief. "WHAAAA?"

Then they heard running outside "Inuyasha! MIroku! Itaru! Shippo! Something terrible has happened!" Meimei cried. When she opened the shoji, there was obviously something wrong. "Its Kagome and Sango! They are really…oh my!" then all of a sudden, they heard a strange noise "NEH NEH NEH NEH! N-NEH NEH! NEH NEH! NEH NEH NEH!" Kagome came running into the room, her tongue huge and protruding from her mouth. "NEH NEH! NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH NEEEEEEHHHHHH!" (You guys! Look what happened to my toooonnnnngguuueeee!)

Inuyasha and Miroku tried their hardest to stifle the barrage of laughter pent up inside. "Oh no! Not you guys too!" Meimei groaned. "Inuyasha! You're a girl!"

"geh! Im not a girl! Im still a man! I guess there is only one way to find out then!" Inuyasha pulled open his pants and looked down to where his 'manhood' was supposed to be. a look of absolute horror was on his face. 'Its _…it's gone…' _"it's….not…there….! Its gone!" ITS GOOOOOONEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Inuyasha crumpled to the floor and began wailing and sobbing.

"Hey, where is Sango?" Shippo asked.

As if on cue, Sango meekly entered the room.

"Oh there she is! And it looks like she has been unharmed!" Miroku said.

"Hey, Sango! You're okay!" Shippo cheered. But Sango immediately shook her head 'no'.

"So, you're not okay?" Sango nodded her head.

"Are you going to tell us what's wrong?"Shippo continued. Sango shook her head no again.

"Well how are we suppose to help you if you don't tell us what it is?"

Sango fervently shook her head.

"GODDAMMIT SANGO! WHATS WRONG WITH YOU!" Inuyasha yelled.

"I-I-I'd rather not say." Sango said, her voice had taken a super bass voice.

This made Miroku, Shippo, Itaru and Inuyasha fall on the floor holding their bellies laughing their heads off.

"OH. MY. GOD THAT'S HILARIOUS!" Shippo shouted

"NEEEH! NEH NEH-NEH NEH NEH!" (HEY LEAVE SANGO ALONE!) Kagome said. this only made the boys laugh harder.

"You guys! This is no time for games! We have to find out who and what did this to us!" Super bass Sango said.

No one bothered to listen to her.

Meimei ran out of the room crying.

"Oh no! what has happened! Inuyasha is a girl, Miroku is a little boy, Sango voice is that of a man's and Kagome cant speak at all!" she ran until she tripped over something. She picked herself up and looked at the cause of her fall. It was the remains of a human ribcage. She looked in horror. She saw that there was a trail that led to a dark room. She opened the door and the scene before her caused her to tremble…

~*0*~

The gang back in their rooms were still arguing and laughing.

"NEH NEH NEH NEH! NEH NEH NEHNEH NEH NEH! NEH NEH!"(INUYASHA! IVE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU! SIT BOY!)

Nothing happened.

"Neh!" (Huh?)

Inuyasha could tell by the look on her face that she had just told him to sit.

"AAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAA! YOU CAN'T TELL ME TO SIT ANYMORE! I guess that means that I can do whatever I want now!"  
"WOW this is the greatest thing that has ever happened! Oh my gods!"

Sango was seething with anger and got even angrier when she felt something on her butt.

"MIROKU!" Super bass Sango shouted.

"So we finally meet face to face."Miroku said with a letcherous smile. Sango whacked him on the head with her hiraikotsu. "OWWWW! CHILD ABUSE!" Miroku cried.

"Hey, Shippo, I've been wanting to give you something for a while now…" Inuyasha said

"Oh yeah? Whats that?" Shippo said curiously.

"A FIST TO THE FACE!" Inuyasha said angrily. He grabbed Shippo by the tail as he squirmed to get away. "AHHHH! KAGOME! HELP ME!"

"NEHNEHNEHNEH!NEH NEH NEH!" (INUYASHA!LET HIM GO!)

"Hey kagome, why don't you put a sock in it, we cant understand you!" inuyasha said laughing. Then out of nowhere, Kagome broke a vase over his head.

"OWWW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!"

"NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH!" (I TOLD YOU TO LET HIM GO!)

"LOOK, I NEVER FELT LIKE IT WAS FAIR TO HIT GIRLS, BUT AT THIS PRESENT SITUATION, THAT RULE IS NULL AND VOID!"

"NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH!" (HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT!)

"COME AT ME!"

Kagome tackled Inuyasha and had him pinned to the ground, pulling his hair.

"YOU BITCH!"

Sango, Miroku, Shippo and Itaru stood by and watched the horrendously funny scene.

"Uh oh, its about to be a-"

"WHAT? A GIRL FIGHT!" Miroku, Shippo and Itaru piped. ~(_hope you noticed what I did there *wink wink*)~_

Then, the shoji slammed open, at the entrance was Meimei, who was pale with fear.

"Whats wrong, sis? You look like you saw a ghost?"

"You guys! We are in danger here!"

Meimei led them down the hallway and opened the door to the dark room.

The room was full of corpses. But they were no ordinary corpses. All of them had their mouths were open in an expression that resembled them laughing.

"Oh my!"

"What is all this?"

"look at their faces! It looks like they are—"

"nehneh!" (laughing!)

"…yeah what she said." inuyasha said.

"what do you think they are planning to do with us?" Sango said.

"I have a feeling they are trying to make us laugh to death!" Miroku hypothesized.

"well they're doing a really good job. Look at all of us!" Itaru said.

"What are we going to do?" Meimei said

"We're going to kick their asses, that's what we are going to do!" Inuyasha said.

"Neh neh neh neh neh neh neh?" (but how did we get this way?)

"Kagome, I really think you should refrain from speech, at least until we are all back to normal." Miroku. "The question is, how did we get this way?"

"neh neh neh neh…" (I just said that…) kagome said annoyed.

"Yes, and why aren't the children affected?" wondered Sango

"Well, what did you guys do that we didn't?" Itaru asked.

All of them though for a moment, and then they all realized, "IT WAS THE SAKE!"

"But it was just one sip!" Inuyasha said.

"I suppose that was enough for the spell to take effect." Sango said

"So it wasn't an accident that that girl gave us sake instead of water; We were being set up!"

"This is highly upsetting. Firstly, because my manhood has been compromised…"

"_YOUR_ MANHOOD! I DON'T _HAVE_ A MANHOOD, THANKS!"

"_Oh so you have figured it out haven't you? My aren't you an intelligent lot? its unfortunate that you all could not have realized it sooner!"_

A voice boomed inside of the room ~(_unintentional rhyming_)~

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Inuyasha commanded.

"_Oh how impatient you are! Even as a beautiful maiden, you still hold an ugly disposition!"_

"HEY! WHO YOU CALLIN UGLY?"

Five figures materialized before their eyes. It was none other than the innkeeper and her four daughters.

"We were so excited when we saw you coming to the inn!" said Miko

"Yesss! We have not had a good laugh in a long time!"said Niiko

"Do not worry, we will not kill you painfully…" said Shiko

"Oh no… we plan on killing you in a slow, happy death!" said Riiko

"So you _were_ planning on making us laugh to death!" Inuyasha shouted. "Prepare to meet your maker!"

Inuyasha charged at the five women and drew tetsusaiga. But suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and doubled over in pain.

"AAAHHHHH! My abdomen! My abdomen! It hurts!" Inuyasha cried.

"Inuyasha! What's wrong?" Meimei said crouching over him.

"My abdomen! It hurts like..!"

"Hmmm, Inuyasha? Where does it hurt?" Sango said.

"Here! Gaaaah!" Inuyasha grunted as he pointed to his lower abdomen.

Both Kagome and Sango knew what was happening. Kagome ran to her backpack and pulled a small, but long tube. She ran over to inuyasha and offered the item.

"And what the hell is _this _ supposed to be? Inuyasha spat.

"Neh! Neh neh! Neh neh neh neh neh neh—" (here! Use this! All you have to do is…)

"KAGOME! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, I CANT UNDERSTAND YOU!" Inuyasha shouted.

Kagome gave a big sigh and settled for sign language. She pointed to the item, then pointed to Inuyasha's 'undercarriage' and did an upward thrusting motion.

"Wait….you want me to take that and ….shove it up my…"

Kagome nodded.

"Kagome, you are one sick little…"

"Umm, you guys, we have more important things to be focusing on right now!" Shippo reminded.

"Oh this will be soo much fun!" the old innkeeper said. And with that, all five of the women were engulfed in a purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, five weasel demons stood where the five women once were."

"Just as I thought! Weasel demons! When it comes to magic and mischief, them and fox demons are head to head!"

"That's right, boy!" Said Niiko

"And once we take the fragments of the sacred jewel, we will be able to prank the whole region and no will be able to stop us!" said Riiko.

The weasels all laughed evilly as the group watched.

'I've got to do something! They're going to kill us!' Itaru though "Not if I can help it!"

Itaru stood there with sword drawn staring the weasel demons down.

"Nuh?"(huh?) Kagome said.


	6. Chapter 6:fatal comedy

I'm seriously considering doing a fanfiction of Inu no Taisho, Izayoi and Sesshomaru. I promise to make it EPIC if I do! But I have to finish the one I have started. And at the rate I'm going, I just might finish it. I plan on writing and updating at least once a day if not twice. I am on a serious roll here!

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 5: Fatal Comedy

Itaru stared down the weasel demon wielding his sword. Itaru's sword looked cracked in places—so cracked it looked as if it would shatter in one passing blow. There were white beads around the red hilt of the sword and also a cross shaped mark in the middle of the blade.

"HAHAHAA! What in the world are you going to do with that garbage, boy?" said the old weasel.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm gonna kick your ass!" Itaru declared.

"Oh you will need more than a half-broken sword to defeat us!" Riiko mocked

"Oh this half broken sword is enough to tan your hide!"

With that said Itaru's sword glowed red with little bits of light swirling around it.

"What is that thing?!" Inuyasha said "the demonic energy swirling around his sword is almost like that of the tetsusaiga!" Itaru charged at the weasel demons. He slashed to the right; a blow in which the demons dodged. He attacked again with the same outcome.

"You are too slow, boy!" niiko taunted.

'Ugh! They're too fast! I guess I'm going to have to take a more indirect approach!'

Then, Itaru held the sword up to the sun. the blade was swirling with energy. He slashed the air which released a golden crescent of light. The crescent of light hit one of the demons on the abdomen. The demon screeched in pain.

"Yeah! That's the way! Give 'em another one!" Shippo cheered.

Itaru did just that. This time, it took out one of the demon's legs.

"graaaah! You little maggot! I'll get you for that!"

"Not if you can catch me first!"

Itaru ran out of the room, trying to lead the demons away from the rest of the group "YOU GUYS! GET OU TOF HERE! ILL LEAD THEM AWAY!"

"OH NO YOU'RE NOT! YOU'RE NOT GONNA STEAL MY SPOTLIGHT!" Inuyasha said as he ran after them.

"Wow, Inuyasha sure does recover quick." Shippo said.

Itaru led the demons to the other side of the house.

"TAKE THIS! STEEL CLEAVER, SPIRIT SEALER!"

He clawed the face of the demon right behind him. "MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE! YOU LITTLE BASTARD! YOU WILL PAY!"

The demon tackled Itaru and pinned him to the floor. The demon bared her fangs at him and prepared to bite off his head.

"HEY KID, WATCH OUT! WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha cried as he lifted his tetsusaiga in the air. He brought down the tremendous blade with a blinding wave of light. The wave tore through the weasel demon as she screeched in agony.

"SISTER MIKO!" The other demonesses cried. "YOU MAGGOT! PREPARE TO DIE!" The elder demoness threatened.

'Now is my chance! I haven't practiced in a while, but I think I can pull it off!' Itaru thought "OKAY HERE I GO! GET READY, YOU FILTHY WEASELS!"

Itaru raised his sword and cut the air in a star formation. Where he had cut the air, a red, five-point star appeared. "TAKE THIS! _ CRIMSON STAR!_"He hit the star and sent it flying. The red star tore through the air while growing in size. The red star engulfed the weasel demons. It nearly missed Inuyasha by a hair.

"I GOT 'EM!"

"H-H-HEY KID! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE AIMING THAT THING!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Sorry!" Itaru apologized.

Miroku, Sango, Shippo, Meimei and Kagome came running down the hallway to see what had happened.

"Inuyasha! Itaru! Are you guys alright?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah, we're fine!" Itaru said.

"We just saw a gigantic red star go the other way, what in the world was that?" Sango asked.

"Oh yeah, that was me!" Itaru said scratching his head bashfully.

"What amazing strength! That was almost as powerful as the tetsusaiga!" Miroku said

"Feh! Not even close!"Inuyasha retorted.

"Really? You really think so?!" Itaru said.

"Neh! Neh neh neh neh neh nehnehneh!" (Yeah! You were really great Itaru!) Kagome said.

"Hey wait a minute! We aren't back to normal!" Inuyasha said. "Damn! I thought killing them would break the spell!"

"There must be some sort of antidote somewhere around here!" Miroku exclaimed.

"Alright then! Let's split up! Kagome and I will search the north and west wings; Miroku and Sango, you go to the east wing, and Itaru, Shippo and Meimei, you guys go to the south wing. If any of you guys find anything, whistle."

When everyone understood their orders, they split up and looked for an antidote to the demon weasel's magic sake. Kagome and Inuyasha looked in the kitchen but only found barrels of sake.

"Wow, so they make these things by the barrel full, huh?" Inuyasha said.

They continued to look around in the kitchen for any sort of clues, looking under bowls and in cupboards.

"Any sign of anything, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"Neh neh." (Not here) Kagome answered. But then she looked inside a crack in the wall.

"Hmm. I wonder what this is." Kagome thought.

She reached inside of the crack to retrieve a piece of paper.

"Hmmm. It looks like a recipe. Okay, 37.85 liters of rice extract soaked in toad's blood, one fawn tail, three eyes of newt, and _20 human elbows_?!"

"Neh nehnehneh! Neh neh nehneh!" (Hey Inuyasha! I found something!) Kagome said.

"Huh? Kagome, did you find something?"

Kagome held up the piece of paper to Inuyasha. "Hmm this must be their brew recipe. Well if there's a recipe, there has got to be a solution to counteract it. Let's keep looking."

Meanwhile, Itaru, Shippo and Meimei found a storehouse filled with barrels with strange characters.

"Hey, what are these? And what do they say?" Shippo asked.

"I don't recognize the characters. Do you think they came from the Continent?" Itaru wondered.

"Hmmm, it looks like tea, but it smells strong…" Meimei said. She reached a finger into the barrel and took a taste of the strange liquid.

"Hey Meimei! Be careful! It might be more of that magic sake!" Itaru warned.

"Don't worry, it's not. Ugh! It tastes putrid! It's so bitter!" Meimei said.

Shippo and Itaru stuck their fingers in the bitter liquid. They both stuck out their tongues in disgust. "Well, that was an enjoyable experience." Itaru said cynically. " I guess there is nothing useful in here." Itaru and Meimei turned to leave, leaving Shippo behind. 'For some strange reason, I want to drink more….' Shippo cupped his hands and drew out a handful of the bitter liquid. 'Hmmm, I guess if you get used to it, its not so bad. Actually, I'm starting to like it!' he drew out another handful and another and another.

On the east wing of the inn, Miroku and Sango searched through a hallway. "So far, nothing. I really hope we can find an antidote. I really don't want to be stuck sounding like this." Sango sighed. "It is quite alright, Sango; If we are meant to stay this way forever, I will surely accept you the way you are. Though I would have to ask you to refrain from speech for the rest of your life." Miroku said. Sango whacked Miroku over the head with her Hiraikotsu again. She hit him so hard that he fell backwards into the wall; only it wasn't a wall. Miroku fell down a chute with a thud. "Oh my goodness, Miroku! I didn't mean to hit that hard!" Sango apologized. "HEY SANGO! I FOUND SOMETHING!" Miroku yelled. Sango slid down the shoot with a whoosh and landed smartly on her bottom. It was dim, but there was a light in the corner. They were not alone. There were five women there with them. "Who are you and how did you guys get down here?" Sango asked. They could only hear muffled noises. "Oh, they have been gagged." Miroku said removing the strip of cloth from the oldest woman's mouth. "Oh thank heavens you found us! I didn't know how long we would be stuck here!" the old woman said. "Hey, wait, It's the innkeeper and her daughters!" Sango said. They removed the gags from the other four girls mouths. "Oh thank you ever so much! We thought that we would surely die here!" one of the girls said. "You are quite welcome, my good lady. Perhaps you could repay me by bearing my children?" Miroku said, holding the girl's hand. "You are only a child yourself…" the girl retorted. "Not exactly," Sango said. "We drank magic sake made by the weasel demons. It changed both of us and our friends."

"In that case, all of you must escape immediately!" one of the daughters said. "They will Kill you with your laughter and cut off your elbows!"

"You don't have to be afraid any longer. We have exterminated the demons and all is well. All that we are looking for is a way to turn ourselves back to normal. Do you know how we can reverse the spell?"

"No, I am sorry. Ever since those terrible demons came, we have been stuck here. Listening to the roaring laughter of the lodgers and then ultimately, their screams."

"Well have no fear. The demons are gone and you are now free." Miroku said.

Sango and Miroku helped the inn keepers out of their prison and out into the open. "Oh fresh air!" one of the daughters said. The women showered the two with gratitude when Inuyasha and Kagome came up. "Hey, are those the real inn keepers?" Inuyasha said. "Yes we are, miss. The weasel demons took over our beloved inn left by my husband and turned it into a factory of death! My daughters and I are forever in your debt!" the old woman said. "Don't mention it." Inuyasha said. We just need to find a way to get back to normal. "As I have told your companions, we do not know how to counteract the magic sake that you all consumed."

"FUCK! Don't tell me I have to be a woman for the rest of my life!?" Inuyasha said.

"NEEEHHHH! NE NEH NEH NEH NEH!" (Nooo! I can't stay like this!)

"Hey you guys." Itaru greeted.

"Itaru, did you find anything?" Sango asked.

"No, not really. All we found was a storage room full of this really weird, bitter liquid that looked like dirty tea."

"Sigh. I guess we will never get back to normal." Miroku said defeatedly.

"No! Don't say that! Where there's a will there's a way, right?!" Meimei said determedly.

"Yeah but…" Sango began.

All of a sudden, they heard a funny noise coming from down the hallway. It was Shippo transformed and rolling through the hall.

"Shippo?! What are you doing?!" Inuyasha said.

Shippo stopped right in front of them and reverted to his original form.

"HEYGUYSWHATSUPIHOPEYOUFONDSO METHINGTOTURNYOUGUYSBACKWHOA RETHESEPEOPLEARETHEYTHEINNKE EPERSTHATSOOOOOOCOOL!"

"Uh…Shippo? Are you okay?" Itaru asked.

"WHATAREYOUTALKINABOUTINEVERF ELTBETTERIFOUNDTHISSTUFFINAS TORAGEROOMDOWNTHEHALLWAYANDI TTASTESAAAAAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAZZ ZZZZIIIIIIINGGGGGGG!YOUGUYSSHOULDREALLYREALLYREA LLYTRYIT!"

Before they knew it, Shippo was bouncing off of the walls. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAH!HAHAHAHAAHAHAAA!"

"Neh nehneh! Neh neh neh neh neh neh neh neh neh?" (wait Shippo? What did you find in that storage room?)

"Shippo! What the hell is the matter with you!?" Inuyasha shouted.

"IFOUNDTHISSTUFFINTHESTORAGER OOM!ILLSHOWYOUWHEREITISCOMESEECO MESEECOMESEE!"

Shippo was still bouncing like a ball as he led the group to the storage room where he found the bitter drink.

"THISISWHEREIFOUNDIT!ITSCOOLHHUHUHUH!?:"

"We found this stuff earlier. It smells terribly strong and it tastes terrible too!" Itaru explained.

"hmmmm. It says…. Kah-feh?" Miroku analyzed.

"Neh-neh? N'ohhhhh _nehneh!_" (Kah-feh? Ohhhh coffee!)

"Kah-feh? What the heck is that?" Inuyasha grunted.

"I believe I have heard about this coffee. It is said that it came from the continent and that it can give a man tremendous strength and that one cup can enable a man to work in a field for ten hours and not get tired! But it is also said that only the very rich can afford it."

"Then what is it doing here?" Sango asked.

"My deceased husband's brother is a lord and he had no use for it. So he gave it to us as a gift of comfort after his death. But we had no use for it, the lodgers never liked it. I suppose it is an acquired taste that is reserved for the wealthy." The old woman said.

'Wait a minute, that's right! My uncle, whenever he drank too much, he drank a cup of coffee to counteract the depressant qualities in the alcohol! And he was always fine the next day! Maybe, just maybe, this can work too!' Kagome thought. Kagome took a step forward towards the barrel of coffee and took a handful of the coffee.

"Kagome! Be careful! We don't know what's in there!" Inuyasha said. But Kagome ignored his warning and gulped down the coffee. Immediately, her tongue felt tingly and she felt the swelling going down. Soon enough, her tongue was back to normal.

"It worked! It really worked!" Kagome cheered.

"Amazing! The coffee reversed the spell on Kagome's tongue!" Sango exclaimed.

"ME NEXT!" Inuyasha said, shoving the others out of the way. He dunked his whole head in the coffee barrel and drank deep. The weight on his chest started to become lighter. When Inuyasha pulled his head out, he was completely recovered. "Wow! That's a weight off of my chest for sure!" Inuyasha said hitting his flat chest. "and my voice is back to normal too! Now just one more thing…" Inuyasha looked into his pants and cheered "YES! HAHA! IM ALL MAN ONCE AGAIN!"

"Alright! I guess it's time for me!" Miroku scooped up handfuls of the coffee. And before their very eyes, Miroku started to grow. When he was done he had reverted to a man.

"Ahhh it feels so very good to be a man again."

"Alright, here I go!" Sango declared. Sango drank the coffee and felt a scratchy feeling in her throat. "Ahh! My voice!"

"Hooray! Everyone is normal again!" Meimei cheered.

"Thank goodness! Would you all like to stay for the night as a thanks from us?" the old inn keeper said.

The group looked at each other with questioning eyes. "Ummm no thanks. I think we should be on our way..!" Kagome said.

"Oh what a pity then!"

_When Inuyasha and the gang packed up their belongings, they bid the innkeeper and her four daughters goodbye. They rejoice over the day's victory and anticipate the next just over the horizon. _

_But meanwhile, they are not aware that they are being watched._

"Who are those children, Kagura?" said a deep and raspy voice.

"How should I know? They appeared out of nowhere and they said that they would vow to avenge their parent's death. Is there another inu-hanyou that you just so happened to have killed?"

"Do you think I take a steady tally of who many people I slay?" The voice said, with a hint of annoyance.

"Could have fooled me. I thought you just killed people sometimes for kicks, Naraku."

"Find out who they are. Bring them to me if you have to. They look quite familiar and I want to know if I am right.


	7. Chapter 7:memories by the stars

For all those who were wondering, coffee did come to japan during the sengoku era. But I suspect that only the rich could afford it; since it is an import.

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 6: Sutasaiga

It was late at night and the moon was bright. Crickets and frogs sang in a beautiful chorus in the warmth that was a remnant of the heat of the day. Inuyasha and the others were gathered around a fire eating their meager dinner.

"…Fish…my favorite…." Inuyasha complained.

"Hey Inuyasha, if you have money, you are welcome to get some food. But the last I heard, you were penniless." Miroku said coldly.

"HEY!" Inuyasha said.

"Even if we had money Miroku, there isnt much to buy, the whole eastern area is in a drought." Sango said.

The whole group heaved a heavy sigh.

"Maybe if we don't think about it, we wont be so hungry." Shippo suggested.

"Good idea, Shippo!" Kagome said.

"Soooo….what should we talk about?" Itaru said.

"hmm…How about you, Itaru?" Shippo said.

"Me? Why do you want to talk about me?" Itaru said, bashfully.

"Well because you did so great today battling the weasel demons! And your sword, where did you get it?" Kagome asked.

"Oh, my sword? Ummm yeah, Its called the Sutasaiga. My Father gave it to harnesses its energy from the sun and the moon."

"Hmm, star crushing fang. Who made it?" Miroku said

" Some guy named Totosai. That's all I know."

"Totosai? Really?" Sango said.

"I was in the middle of training with my father until some demon that revi—I mean, Naraku, came and destroyed my village. Meimei was with mama picking herbs. I had just turned fifteen winters old and that's when my father gave me the sutasaiga. Then Naraku came and…well…"

"Itaru, you don't have to tell us if you don't feel comfortable." Kagome said softly. "And that's the thing, Kagome. That's exactly what my mama would do. Both you and Inuyasha remind me of my parents. Sometimes when I wake up, I think that you are them, bu then I remember what happened."

There was a long, sobering silence that followed. 'So much for trying to take my mind off of being hungry, now im depressed.' Shippo thought.

Itaru stared into the fire, holding his fish in his hand, his mind could not stop thinking about his parents. ' I have to get the tetsusaiga. I don't know how much longer mother and father can hold on. It _has _to be tonight!"

"im not hungry anymore." Itaru mumbled as he put his fish back by the fire. "Heh, don't mind if I do!" Inuyasha said. "Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed. "What? He said he's not hungry, why not give it to someone who is?"

"Its okay, Kagome. I don't care..." Itaru said.

"See?" Inuyasha sneered.

"But at least my father had the decency to let the kids eat as much as they needed!" Itaru shouted.

"What are you going on about, kid? I thought that I made it VERY clear that Im _not_ your father! Im not even distantly related to you as far as I know! My name is INUYASHA! Got that? I-NU-YA-SHA" Inuyasha shouted back.

"YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?" Itaru replied. He stood to his feet and ran into the forest. "AND IM _NOT_ A KID!"

"Itaru! Don't run away!" Meimei called.

"Ill talk to him." Kagome said as she stood up. When she left the circle, Inuyasha came after her, "Kagome, wait—"

"Inuyasha! You are so insensitive! Itaru and Meimei have just lost their parents and all you can think about is yourself! Think about how _you _felt when _your_ mother died!" Kagome scolded.

"The difference between me and him is that I _got past it_! You can't go around sulking about someones death the rest of your life! That's no way to live! People don't have _time _for sap stories! People _live _and people _die_! He has to learn to cry a river, build a bridge and _walk over it_!" Inuyasha shouted.

Kagome was left speechless by his cold, but truthful wisdom. "Inuyasha… all that you just said is true. But its going to take time. The wound is probably still fresh…"

Inuyasha stood silent for a moment and then turned away. "Do what you want." He mumbled.

Kagome looked for Itaru and found him in a clearing looking up at the stars.

"Itaru, I apologize for Inuyasha's behavior. He is not as heartless as he seems."

"I know. Its just that…I really miss my parents. I know that Inuyasha is just trying to help me get past it. That's what my father would do…He would always say 'buck up! Are you a man or aren't you?'"

"Tell me about your parents. Your whole family, even.

"well, theres my uncle. He is really cold and distant and he and my father don't get along very well sometimes. But father says its not what it used to be. He is married now and they have a son. My cousin and I are really close, unlike them…"

"What about your mother?"

"Oh my mother? She is beautiful in every way. She is nice to everybody. She will go all out of her way to help someone else! Even if they don't like her! There was this one man who tried to cheat us at the market place, but my mother caught him red handed. He resented her for that. But when an epidemic went through the village and he was really sick, she personally nursed him back to health. My father is head over heels in love with her. He values her over life itself! My father would do anything for her."

"And what about your father?"

"Oh wow! He's the strongest person you will ever meet!" Itaru stood up in excitement.

things go WHAP! BOOM! POW! He's so strong , he defeated the evil demon Nara—! Oh…"Itaru stopped himself and sat down. Kagome and Itaru sat in silence looking at the stars.

"On nights like this, my parents used to take me and Meimei outside to pick my own star. I can remember the ones all of us had,"

He pointed to four stars in the sky "That one is mine, that one is Meimei's, that one is Mama's and _that_'s Father's." Itaru said.

'It may be just coincidence, but I believe that is the same star as Inuyasha's…'

"Wow, Itaru, your family must have been very close!"

"Yeah we really were. We did everything together. We made a lot of amazing memories together. Which is why Naraku is going to die by my own hand!" Itaru declared.

"I know you want to kill Naraku. But you aren't the only one who wants Naraku dead. He has broken the lives of many people. He hasn't really done anything directly, but Inuyasha was sealed to a tree for fifty years because he deceived him and a woman he used to love," 'or should I say, still love' Kagome thought somberly. " And Miroku's family was cursed with a wind tunnel in his hand that can suck up anything, but if he uses him too much, he will be engulfed into it himself and die. And Sango's village was slaughtered and her brother is being used as one of Naraku's pawns. So you are not the only one to be affected by Naraku."

"hmmmm…" Itaru mused. Then, in a sudden rush of boldness, he said. "Kagome, do you think you and Inuyasha will ever…you know…get together or get married or something

"HUUUH?" Kagome said, completely caught off guard by his question. " I ummm…I….uhhhh…..why did you ask that?"

"You guys have got to be seeing each other. I mean really. Haven't you guys advanced in your relationship at _all_?"

"Y-y-yyou barely know us and you're talking about our relationship?"

"Well, is there one or not?"

"I would like to think so. I know Inuyasha has feelings for Kikyo and they shared a relationship that I couldn't possibly compete with. They have a history. We were brought together by sheer accident. But that doesn't stop the deep feelings I have for him. Even if I can only watch from afar, I can be content with that. If he is happy with Kikyo, then I can be happy, for him at least; even if it tears me apart…"

"Don't say that, Kagome. Inuyasha does care for you. I can see it in his eyes. The way he looks at you and all; he may like that Kikyo woman, but im sure that he loves you just as much."

"Thank you, Itaru. That means a lot to me."

"No problem! Well I feel better now, I think we can go back to the others now."

"okay."

The two walked together back to the campsite, side by side. By the time they returned, Meimei and Shippo were already asleep and Inuyasha was sitting with his eyes closed.

"Well?"Miroku said.

"Everything is going to be okay now." Kagome sighed as she sat down.

"Inuyasha?" Itaru said.

"what is it?"Inuyasha mumbled.

"Im sorry for lashing out at you. I acted in anger."

"HUUH?" 'Hes apologizing to me?'

"will you forgive me, Inuyasha?"Itaru continued.

"UHHH um yeah sure, I forgive you…" Inuyasha said looking away.

"Thanks." He said with a shy smile.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha with a smile. Inuyasha glanced at her and when he realized she was looking at him, he blushed.

'maybe someday, Inuyasha. Maybe someday."

~*0*~

"Lord Sesshomaru! These flowers are so beautiful! May I pick some?" Rin asked.

"Do not go far." Sesshomaru said calmly

"Okay!" Rin said as she dashed off into the sunny meadow. "Master Jaken! Im going to make you a crown, like a king!"

"I do not need such a silly, childish thing, girl!"

"But master jaken, it will make you look pretty!"

"What are you trying to say girl? That I am not good looking enough? I'll have you know, that I am quite dashing for my age! Why, when I was but a young imp, every female that I came across literally threw themselves at my feet!"

"You know master Jaken, Lying is not a very gracious trait." Rin quipped.

"W-w-w-what did you say!"

"Be silent, Jaken." Sesshomaru said.

"B-b-b-but my lord!

"SILENT!"

Jaken shut up and stared inquisitively at his master. ' I wonder why he is so high strung? Is it because he cannot seem to locate Naraku?'

'I can sense someone's presence, but I cannot detect their scent…' Sesshomaru thought.

"Hey Itaru! I made one for you too!"

"That's great Meimei!"

"I hope Papa likes his! I made it special!"

"Meimei, you know we cant call him that here…"

"I know that! But he isnt around."

"but still, he might—Meimei be on guard, Sesshomaru is here…"

As if on cue, Sesshomaru appeared right in front of them.

Itaru stood in front of his little sister for safety. Sesshomaru stared them down for a full minute until Sesshomaru broke the silence, "How is it that you know my name…?"

"We have heard of you…great one! The mighty lord of the west and his faithful companions!" Itaru said.

"Hmmm…I cannot smell your scent. Why is that, boy?"Sesshomaru continued.

"Umm…maybe you have a cold?"Itaru suggested.

"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING TO LORD SESSHOMARU! LORD SESSHOMARU IS FAR TOO STRONG TO BE SUBJECT TO MORTAL AILMENTS!"Jaken scolded.

"Hey, Im just guessing." Itaru replied.

"Answer my question, why is your scent hidden from me…?"Sesshomaru said again.

"Ummm, I don't know…" Itaru was starting to get nervous. 'Sesshomaru is not going to let me get off easy…perhaps we are going to have to make a mad dash out of here…'

Meimei peeked from behind her brothers leg and spotted Rin. When their eyes met, Meimei waved with a great smile on her face. Rin waved back, confused at who this girl was

"Ummm hey Sesshomaru, id love to stay and chat, but our mother will be wondering where we are. See ya!" Itaru grabbed his little sister and dashed away back into the forest. " What a strange boy. But lord Sesshomaru, why did you let them escape?" Jaken asked.

"I have more important things to do than chase children, jaken. Remember that."

"Y-y-yes m'lord!" Jaken then turned to Rin "Rin, do you know that girl just now?"

"No master Jaken, I have never seen her before."

"What do you think of those children, Lord Sesshomaru? Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Master Jaken! He left minutes ago!" Rin said riding away on AH-Un.

"LORD SESSHOMARU! WAIT FOR ME!"

Oh that was a terrible chapter! Im so sorry I just lost steam for this one! I promise the next one will be better! And now I know I definitely will not be able be able to finish this in 10 chapters. Maybe 15.


	8. Chapter 8:academics

Inuyasha regashi chapter 7: Itaru and Meimei in the future

Inuyasha and the gang had returned to Kaede's village so that Kagome could go home to take a test. Inuyasha was as usual unhappy with the interruption of tracking down Naraku.

"Seriously, Kagome? Why now? Can't you do this _later?"_ Inuyasha scowled.

"What did we talk about a few nights ago, Inuyasha? This is important. I was actually supposed to take this test two weeks ago. I'm getting off easy today." Kagome explained.

"Ughh! Hurry up and get it over with then!"

"Kagome, where are you going?" Meimei asked.

"Well, I go to school back in my time, so every now and then I have to take these tests so that I can advance to the next level in my education."

"Ohhh…." Meimei said.

"Good luck on your examinations, Kagome." Sango said

"May the gods assist you." Miroku blessed.

"Go Kagome!" Shippo cheered.

"Humph." Inuyasha grunted.

When everyone had said their goodbyes, Kagome prepared to jump into the well until,

"Wait, Kagome!" Itaru said.

"What is it Itaru?"

"I want to go too!"Itaru exclaimed.

"HUH?"

"Me too, Me too!"

"Umm I'm sorry you guys, but the well only works for Inuyasha and me. I don't think that it would work for you guys." Kagome said.

"Aww you never know until you try!" Itaru said.

"Please! We will be on our best behavior!" Meimei pleaded.

"Well, I…." Kagome started.

"You heard her! The well only works for Kagome and me!"

"awww!" Meimei complained

"Well, I'm off you guys! Bye!"

"Goodbye!" they all said. And with that, Kagome jumped into the well and was engulfed into a flash of white light.

"So what should we do now?" Shippo asked.

"Since Kagome is going to be gone at least three days, we should listen for any rumors of Naraku or the shikon jewel. That's all we can do for now." Miroku replied.

"Guess we should go back to the village." Sango said. The group turned around and headed toward the village leaving Itaru and Meimei behind.

"So they think that the well doesn't work for us, huh? Well they have another thing coming!" Itaru declared, jumping in the well. "Wait for me, big brother!" Meimei cried following after him. The both of them were engulfed in the familiar pool of light and landed finally at the bottom of the well. When they looked up it was dark. But they could hear unfamiliar voices. "Hey sis, you're back! Did you have a good time?"

"Yeah, I guess." Kagome said.

"How is Inuyasha?" the unfamiliar voice continued.

"As boorish as ever. But otherwise fine."

"That's cool. Do you think that he will come to get you?"

"Hopefully not too soon." Kagome chuckled.

"I really hope that he does! Because I have something to show him!"

"Oh really? What's that?"

"Gramps got me a SWORD! He says that now that I'm the man of the house that it is my responsibility to protect you all!"

"A WHAAA? That's not fair. Gramps gives you an awesome weapon but all he gives me is dried up animal parts…" Kagome said disdainfully.

"Oh you'll get something sooner or later!"

"Yeah, sure…"

"So are you going to school?

"Of course I am! Why would I come otherwise?"

"I dunno, to get rid of Inuyasha for a while?"

"Whatever Sota, I'm going inside."

"Okay, see ya!" the boy called Sota said.

"Sota? Father said Kagome had a kid brother named Sota." Itaru mused.

"This must be her home!" Meimei said.

"Let's go then!" Itaru declared.

The two children jumped out of the well and out of the well house. They emerged into the light. It was like nothing the two had ever seen before. The shrine overlooked a massive city with castle-like structures that reached the sky. The odor that wafted from the metropolis was rancid and strong, almost suffocating the two.

"Ewwww! What is that stench?"Itaru complained holding his nose.

"Let's go inside, its making me really lightheaded!"

The two jumped up to a window that had the strongest concentration of Kagome's scent. They spotted their target sitting at a table reading.

"What is it that she is reading?" Meimei whispered to her brother.

Itaru squinted his eyes to get a better look, but all he could see were strange signs and what seemed to be numbers.

"It looks like some kind of spell book. But what is Kagome doing with a spell book? She is a priestess!" Itaru answered. "Let's get a closer look."

"Kagome had finally sat down to her desk to study. "Ahh! Finally some peace and quiet so my mind can concentrate! It's nearly impossible to study over there with all the distractions I have to put up with!" she cracked open the textbook and started to read. But Kagome was unsettled. She had the very nerve wrecking feeling that she was being watched.

"Seriously, Inuyasha! I'm gone for not even _ten minutes_ and here you are—WHAAAA?" Kagome said as she turned around. There wasn't just one Inuyasha, but two perched on her windowsill. "Hey, what's up?" Itaru greeted. Kagome fell down in dumbfounded shock to see the two inu-hanyou children right there in her window.

"WAIT…HOLD ON… HOW DID YOU…THE WELL ONLY WORKS FOR…!" Kagome stammered.

"See we told you it would work for us!" Itaru jeered.

"Yeah! Told ya!" Meimei echoed.

'Well so much for peace and quiet. Sometimes I think that the kami really don't want me to finish school…' Kagome thought disdainfully.

"What'cha doin?" Itaru asked looking over her shoulder.

"I _was _studying." Kagome mumbled.

"What'cha studying?" Meimei asked.

"Intro to Algebra." Kagome said.

"Inch-ro two Algae-bro? What is that?" Said Itaru looking at her textbook.

"It really difficult mathematics." Kagome explained.

"Can you teach us some?" Meimei asked.

"Umm it's really difficult stuff. You would first have to start with the basics…"

"Hmmm. Can't be that hard. Let's see…"

Itaru scrutinized the lengthy tome and reached for a piece of paper. "Okay, 3+2*5X(y-1)? Oh that's easy. All you have to do is carry over the 5x to the y-1 to get 5xy and 5x, multiply them both by two and you get 3+ 10xy -10x. Not that hard if you know what you're doin."

Kagome stared at the boy, dumbfounded. 'WHAAAA? How in the world did he figure that out?'

"See?"

"Ummm wow Itaru, who taught you all that?"

"Oh just my mother. She is really really smart."

"Your…mother?" Kagome said.

"Yeah, our mother was all about education and stuff. She made sure we could read and write and stuff. "Itaru explained.

"Oh wow! That's kind of her to teach you all that." 'Wait a minute…commoners, even nobles didn't even _know_ about algebra! Something doesn't add up here…!'

"So in order for me to continue with my mother's wishes, I must continue my education in the best place possible! "Itaru exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Meimei exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Itaru, you can't just walk into a school and demand that they teach you, you have to get registered and a lot of other things. And…for you…it's just …complicated…."

"What do you mean by complicated?" Itaru asked suspiciously.

"Well if you haven't noticed, you don't see youkai or hanyou walking around in the open like you do in your time. If someone as so much saw you here at the shrine, who knows what would happen!" Kagome said.

"Oh…it's because I'm a hanyou, huh?" Itaru said dejectedly.

"I'm sorry… I don't have anything against you being a hanyou at all, it's just that other people do and I just want you and Meimei to be safe that's all." Kagome said defensively.

"Oh…" Itaru said. Itaru got up from his spot on the floor of Kagome's room. "Well. I guess I should forget about it…" Itaru said. "C'mon Meimei, we're bothering Kagome." Itaru mumbled. "Awww…" Meimei complained.

"Hey… wait you guys…" Kagome began. The two turned around to face Kagome with eager faces. "…you guys can sit outside the window for my classes. But nothing more, okay?"

"YAAAY!" Itaru and Meimei cheered.

~*0*~

_Back in the feudal era…_

Miroku and Shippo sat on Kaede's porch fanning themselves off with paper fans. Inuyasha sat on the roof of the same hut not doing anything at all.

"Its soooo hot…how can it be so hooooottt…" Shippo moaned.

"Well it is in the middle of July, so its nothing abnormal, but miserable nonetheless." Miroku sighed.

"Inuyasha, how can you _stand_ this heat?" Shippo said.

"Well, I have learned not to complain about something you can't change." Inuyasha said nonchalantly.

"That's a laugh. Not too long ago, you were complaining about having fish again." Shippo snorted.

"Feh! Did you pay attention to what I said 'things you cant change' as in _weather conditions._" Inuyasha retorted. "Besides I can go to Kagome's world. They have some kind of magic wind machine that blows out cold air. They call it ayur-con-dish-ining."

"A magic wind machine? Do you mean they can control the wind kind of like how Kagura controls the wind?" Miroku inquired.

"umm I guess that's how it works." Inuyasha said lightly.

"speaking of which, where are Itaru and Meimei?" Shippo said.

"We weren't talking about them!" Inuyasha said.

"Yes, I noticed that they have been gone for quite a while now. Ever since Kagome left for home they did not follow us." Miroku wondered.

"Do you think that Itaru and Meimei went down into the well after her?" Sango piped in, emerging from Kaede's hut.

"I do not know for sure…" Miroku mused. "Inuyasha don't you think you could sniff them out and see for sure if they went down the well?"

"I can't for some reason…" Inuyasha said.

"You can smell their scent?" all three said in unison.

"Yeah, I can't smell them at all! I haven't wondered about it because the new moon is coming pretty soon and I thought that maybe it was just that…" Inuyasha explained.

"Hmmm. Well this is a predicament. Shippo, can't you smell them?" Miroku asked.

"I can't smell them either!" Shippo exclaimed.

"It's almost as if they are…ghosts…" Inuyasha wondered.

"GHOSTS! WHAT DO YOU MEAN GHOSTS!" Shippo said, fear lacing his voice.

"Apparitions don't have scents, since they have no mortal bodies. So their scent is nonexistent. Do you think that those children are actually vengeful spirits out to avenge the deaths of their parents?" Sango wondered.

"It's too hard to tell. And besides, if they were spirits, wouldn't Kagome have noticed by now?" Miroku replied.

"Yes, that is true…" Sango said.

"Well, if they are spirits that are trying to avenge their deaths, then it's not our problem!" Inuyasha snorted.

"Inuyasha! The spirits came to us! We should at least help them achieve their peaceful rest. They are like Kikyo, if you look at it a certain way"

"Gah, you don't know what you're talking about!" Inuyasha spat as he turned to jump off of the roof.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Shippo called after him.

"Who wants to know?" Inuyasha shouted as he continued running into the forest.

"I guess we struck a chord there…" Sango mentioned.

"Remind me to bring up lady Kikyo whenever we want him to do something." Miroku sneered.

(*A/N*): Soooo sorry guys! We had a really REALLY violent freak storm the other day and it uprooted like 5 big trees in my neighborhood (snapping power lines along with it, of course) caused a transformer to catch on fire ; not _even _ kidding! so we had no power for a day and a half and no internet for like six days in like sauna-like conditions (F***ing 100+ degrees for A WHOLE F***ING WEEK and I live in Ohio) the whole township was out. But thank God that it came back on. I swear this summer is gonna be HELL in every sense of the word! But hey we are alive and safe, nothing of ours has been damaged. But enough of my sob story…

I apologize if these last two chapters have been crap. Im really bad at filler chapters. I guess with the intense heat, and all that has been happening, it showed in my work. So the scene in this chapter where they are all hot was inspired by that!

I promise when it comes to the action-interesting parts, it will make up for the crappy intervals.

Wow that was a long Authors' note!


	9. Chapter 9:Itaru goes to school pt1

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 7: Itaru goes to school pt. 1

"Kagome! Dinner time!" Kagome's mother called. Kagome, Itaru and Meimei were sitting in Kagome's room doing various activities. Kagome was studying while Meimei and Itaru were solving a puzzle. Kagome was glad that the kids could find something quiet to do 'unlike Inuyasha. He just stares and stares and _stares_.' Kagome thought. "Great! Time to eat! Im starving!" Kagome rushed downstairs to meet her mother, Sota and her grandfather; Meimei and Itaru rushed in behind her.  
"Hey guys! Whats for dinner?"

"Oh I just felt lazy today, so I just made some ramen for dinner!" Kagome's mother exclaimed. 'WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I JUST GET BACK FROM A JOURNEY WHERE WE EAT NOTHING BUT TINY, TASTELESS LITTLE FISH TO INSTANT NOODLES?' Kagome thought. "that's…great…" Kagome said. Kagome sat down in a slump at the table. "what smells so good?" A voice said coming from the hallway. Itaru and Meimei barged in the dining room with the Higurashi family staring.

"Oh if I knew we were having guests, I would have made more. Kagome, why didn't you tell us we were going to have company?"

"'Cause I didn't know myself…" Kagome grumbled.

"OHHHH! RAMEN! I SMELL RAMEEEEEEN!" came a voice from outside.

"Oh god…" Kagome sighed. Suddenly the window in the dining room opened and out popped Inuyasha. "Hey, you don't mind if I stop in do ya?" Inuyasha asked.

"Not at all! It only takes a few minutes to make some more!" Mrs. Higurashi said getting up.

"Great!" Inuyasha cheered. He looked up to see Itaru and Meimei standing across the room from him. "HEY! There you are, you brats! How did the well let you two through?"

"HA! You said the well only works for you and Kagome! We showed you!" Itaru taunted.

"Yeah! Showed you!" Meimei repeated.

"Grrrr…."

"Hey Inuyasha! You didn't tell me you had siblings!" Sota said.

"What? Siblings? They aren't my siblings! I only have a brother and he is older than me!" Inuyasha said.

"Well they gotta be, they look exactly like you!" Sota said.

"Huh?"

'OH no!How can he tell? Uncle's leaf must be…' Itaru reached into his pocket and took out a leaf. The leaf had one brown spot on it. 'dammit! I guess these leaves don't last forever! I don't know how long these leaves will last…I really gotta step on it!' Itaru pulsed a little bit of his demonic energy into the leaf to reinforce the youkai magic.

"What are you talking about, Sota? They don't look anything like me!" Inuyasha said.

"Oh, on second thought, maybe not. Maybe they are just cousins of yours?"

"Impossible! My cousins, if they exist, are either completely human or completely demon. Not hanyous." Inuyasha explained.

"Oh. Oh well then."

"The ramen is ready!" Kagome's mother called out to them. The three hanyou sat down at the table and waited to be served. Kagome's mother served them steaming hot cups of instant noodles. "I made your favorite, Inuyasha: beef flavored!"

"YESSS!" Inuyasha cheered. He carefully blew the steam off of the noodles and gulped it down.

"I didn't know what flavor to fix you two, but I thought I would make you beef flavored ramen as well. Just holler if you don't like it." Kagome's mother said.

"Thank-you very much!" the two hanyou children said. they blew off the steam and slurped up the instant noodles.

"WOW! THIS TASTES AMAZING!" Itaru said.

"SOOO YUMMY!" Meimei echoed.

"Best food on the planet, isnt it?" Inuyasha asked.

"Mmmhmmm!" the children agreed. The three hanyous gulped down their cup of noodles in a matter of minutes.

"So tell me you two, are you any closer in completing the shikon jewel?" Kagome's grandfather inquired.

"No, not really. Naraku has a majority of them. Its going to be tough trying to get them back." Inuyasha informed.

"Now this Naraku character, who is he?" Kagome's grandfather said.

"He is a half demon that is after the shikon jewel as well. Naraku is pure evil, in my opinion. He has destroyed many people's lives. He tore Inuyasha and his…uh…girlfriend Kikyo apart, he cursed the family of our friend Miroku with a void in his hand that will eventually swallow him up and destroyed the village of another friend Sango and uses her little brother as his pawn!'

"Why the nerve! What a disgusting creature! Who would do such a terrible thing to people?" Kagome's mom exclaimed in shocked disguist.

"Him apparently." Inuyasha said.

"And not only that, they killed our parents in cold blood!" Itaru said.

"How terrible! You two must be so alone!" Kagome's mom sympathized.

"Yeah. I miss my Mama and Papa." Meimei said .

"I bet you do!" Kagome's mom said. "if everyone is done with their dinner, I made cupcakes!"

"Cupcakes?" Itaru wondered.

Mrs. Higurashi walked out of the kitchen with a plate full of mushroom shaped pastries topped with a white, creamy substance with rainbow colored specks on top.

"Whatever they are, they smell good." Inuyasha said.

They all reached for one of the fancily decorated cakes. Meimei took a big bite out of one of them and smiled brightly "WOW! THESE MUSHROOM PASTRIES TASTE SO GOOD! THEY DON'T EVEN TASTE LIKE MUSHROOMS!"

"That's because they're not, stupid." Itaru rebuked.

"Well I didn't know!" Meimei retorted.

"Hah! Can't you tell, they don't even smell remotely like mushrooms. You're so stupid." Itaru teased.

"I am not!" Meimei shouted.

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"AM NOT!"

"ARE TOO!"

" Itaru! Meimei! Be nice to each other! What would your mother and father say?" Kagome scolded.

The two stopped their bickering and stared at Kagome with longing eyes. They knew exactly what their mother and father would say.

"Ummm what is that look for? Did I say something I shoudnt have?"

"No, its nothing. You're right. We will behave." The two said.

'that's really weird. They looked at me really funny just then…and they cooperated with what I said so well…' Kagome thought.

"Alright then, im off!" Inuyasha said. "Wait, Inuyasha! You didn't come to get me?"

"Uhhh, do you _want _me to take you back? That can be arranged, you know." Inuyasha said smartly.

"Um no, that's fine!" Kagome said.

"Humph. Kagome, you are so strange." Inuyasha mumbled.

"So, are we really going to school tomorrow?" Itaru asked excitedly.

"Ummmm…yeah…" Kagome said. 'I cant let them be seen at school tomorrow. It could be disasterous!'

"Oh boy I cant wait!" Meimei cheered.

'Yeah….' Kagome thought.

~*0*~

The next day, Kagome ran out of the house and down the stairs away from the family shrine. "Good so far! Hopefully I can give them the slip before they know that im gone! Now I can finally—"

"Kagome! You forgot to wake us up!" Itaru said, standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"AHHH!" Kagome screeched to a stop with Itaru and Meimei in front of them. "Itaru! Meimei! What are you…!"

"You said we could come and watch you at school, remember?" Meimei said.

"Uhhh…did I say that?" Kagome wondered. 'Crap, these kids don't miss a beat, do they?'

"Yeah you did." Itaru said folding his arms. "Did you intentionally leave early?" Itaru said suspiciously.

"Uhhhh…I...ugh. Okay you guys. I know I told you that you could come with me, but I remembered something really really important. I didn't want to wake you guys up and see you both disappointed." Kagome sighed.

"But you said that we could!" Itaru said.

"I remembered that I have a lot of tests today so im going to need total concentration. If you guys are outside watching me the whole time, then I wont be able to concentrate and pass my test!" kagome explained.

"But you promised!" Meimei complained.

"im sorry you guys. Maybe next time…"

"That's no good! You gave us your word!" Itaru argued.

"Im sorry! I really am! You guys can come when I don't have a test to take!" Kagome said before running off. "Ill be back by four o'clock!" Kagome ran off and disappeared around the corner.

"Well, im not going to let _her _ tell me what to do!" Itaru said.

"But you have to! She is—"

"I know, I know! but im not going sit here and do nothing! What if something happens to her? Who will protect her?"

"Oh you have a good point there!" Meimei agreed.

"Well what are we waiting for? Lets go!"

….

Kagome finally arrived at school ten minutes before the first bell. The campus was buzzing with other students rushing here and there to their first period classes.

"Great! I got here just in time!"

"Hey! Kagome! You're here!" came a voice behind her. It was Eri with her other two friends Ayumi and Yuka. "Yuka! Eri! Ayumi!" Kagome exclaimed. "No time to talk now, Higurashi! We're going to be late!" Kagome's three friends pushed her hurriedly towards the front door.

Back by the front gate, two figures stood in the shadows. "Okay, all we need is a disguise…"

"What am I going to do? Im not old enough to attend!"

"Ummm you can watch!"

"No fair! Why do you get to go?"

"Because im _older_ and I'm _smarter_."

"no you're not!"

Suddenly an unfamiliar boy passed by where the two were hiding, "Oh boy! The first day of school! I can't wait to see what this new place is like! I hope they have a soccer te-" then, the boy was abruptly snatched into the bushes, his mouth covered by a clawed hand.

_In the feudal era_

"So they _did_ go down the well after Kagome?" Sango said.

"Yeah, I was really surprised." Inuyasha replied.

"This makes absolutely no sense. No one else can cross over to Kagome's time without the use of the shikon jewel." Miroku said.

"So did Itaru and Meimei come back with you, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked.

"No they didn't. they stayed the night at Kagome's place. They said that they were going to go to 'school' with Kagome today. I don't know how that's going to work. She definitely doesn't let me go out in public with her unless im wearing that stupid cap of hers. "

"This could be a problem…if anyone in Kagome's time sees either Itaru or Meimei out in the open, it might cause some trouble in her time." Sango said.

"Oh I think Kagome can handle it." Inuyasha said lightly.

"I hope you're right…" Miroku breathed.

_Back in the 21__st__ century_

Kagome sat down with a heavy sigh in her seat in her first period class. 'Okay, lets get this over with once and for all.' Kagome thought.

"Alright class, as you all know we have a test today. Have your supplies ready and take care of your business before you start. There will be no breaks allowed while the test is in progress. I will review some of the things that will be on the test before we start but first we will take attendance. Akihito Yukio?"

"present."

" Akimoto Eri?"

"here!" Eri said.

The teacher went down the list of names of the students.

"Higurashi Kagome?

"Im here!" Kagome said.

"so glad you're back, Kagome! Maybe we can hang out after school?" Hojo whispered.

"Uhhh maybe…" Kagome said.

"Ienari Kojiro?"

Suddenly the door slammed open to reveal Itaru in a school uniform.

'Itaru!' Kagome stared at the boy in shock.

"Is this chamber five score thirty and four?" Itaru said obnoxiously loud, reading a small piece of paper.

"Chamber, no. Homeroom 134, yes. Are you Ienari Kojiro?" said the teacher.

Itaru looked down at the piece of paper and spotted at the top of the page _schedule for: Ienari Kojiro._

"Uhhh yeah, I guess." Itaru said.

"Umm, Alright then. You may take the seat next to miss Akimoto, mr. Ienari." The teacher said.

"Cool." Itaru said lightly.

'OH NO NO NO NO NO! THIS CANT BE HAPPENING! IT JUST CANT BE! I'VE GOTTA GET HIM OUT OF HERE! HE DOESN'T HAVE A CAP ON! AND WHERE IS MEIMEI? OH BAD BAD BAAAAAAAADDDD!'

* * *

OH SNAP! CLIFFHANGAH! Hehe, sorry guys!  
personally I think that this chapter was better than the last. But not as good as the other ones. But the next one, I have an idea where im going with this. Like I said before, im really bad at filler chapters. But this one and probably the next one are one of my better filler chapters; not my best though.

Still no internet...TT_TT


	10. Chapter 10: itaru goes to school pt 2

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 8: Itaru goes to school pt. 2

_Last chapter of Inuyasha Regashi:_

"_Uhhhh…I...ugh. Okay you guys. I know I told you that you could come with me, but I remembered something really really important. I didn't want to wake you guys up and see you both disappointed." Kagome explained._

"_But you promised!" Meimei complained._

"_Well, I'm not going to let her tell me what to do!" Itaru said._

"_This could be a problem…if anyone in Kagome's time sees either Itaru or Meimei out in the open, it might cause some trouble in her time." Sango said._

"_Oh I think Kagome can handle it." Inuyasha said lightly._

"_Are you Ienari Kojiro?" said the teacher._

"_Uhhh yeah, I guess." Itaru said._

'_OH NO NO NO NO NO! THIS CANT BE HAPPENING! IT JUST CAN'T BE! I'VE GOTTA GET HIM OUT OF HERE! HE DOESN'T HAVE A CAP ON! AND WHERE IS MEIMEI? OH BAD BAD BAAAAAAAADDDD!'_

_..._

"Alright then, now that attendance is taken, we can proceed with the review…" the teacher said turning to the chalkboard.

"So you're the new kid! I hear that you lived in Great Britain for 8 years! What's it like?" Eri whispered to Itaru.

"Uhhh Great Britain? Where is that?" Itaru asked.

"Oh you're funny! I like funny! I think you will fit in just fine!" Eri said.

"Oh, well that's always good, I suppose!" Itaru said happily. He looked over to see a horrified Kagome sitting over on the left side of the classroom. He waved to her and she just turned and looked at the board.

'Oh MY GOD! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO! So far, no one has noticed his ears, I really hope no one brings it up—"

"Mr. Mitsuharu isn't there a _rule _in the dress code against wearing costumes during school hours?" said a boy with a hint of malice in his voice.

"Hm? Well yes there is Mr. Satoya there is. Why do you bring it up?" Mr. Mitsuharu said.

"Oh I was just making sure. Because even if it was my first day, I wouldn't wear a silly prop like, say, _dog ears_ to class. I mean _really_." The boy said.

"Hmm. I'm afraid Mr. Satoya is right, Mr. Ienari. Even if you are a newcomer to our school, that still does not excuse you from dress code violations. I'm afraid you will have to remove your prop immediately." Mr. Mitsuharu said.

'KENTA YOU BASTARD!' Kagome thought boiling mad and sweating profusely.

"Prop? What prop?" Itaru said innocently.

"Your ears, Mr. Ienari." Mr. Mitsuharu said annoyed.

"My ears? I can't take these off." Itaru said.  
'SHIT SHIT SHIT! THINK KAGOME, THINK!'

"Well, why ever not, Mr. Ienari? They are not attached to your head are they?" Mr. Mitsuharu said his annoyance increasing.

"Actually, the truth is—"suddenly, Itaru was clocked in the head with a large textbook. "STAY BOY!" Kagome shouted. Itaru fell to the floor and was paralyzed by Kagome's command.

"MISS HIGURASHI!" Mr. Mitsuharu said.

'Aww crap! He is going to kick me out of class! I'm done for!' Kagome thought woefully.

"ARE YOU HAVING ANOTHER TOURETTES SYNDROME ATTACK? IF SO, YOU ARE EXCUSED TO COMPOSE YOURSELF! AND WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, YOU MAY TAKE MR. IENARI TO THE NURSE'S OFFICE."

'WHAAAAAAAAAAT! GRANDPA! WHY DID YOU TELL THE TEACHER THAT I HAVE TOURETTES!" Kagome thought in anger.

"Let's go, Ita—I mean, Kojiro!" Kagome said dragging the paralyzed boy out of class.

_On the roof of the school_

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING HERE! ARE YOU TRYING TO GET ME KICKED OUT! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO STAY HOME! AND WHERE IS MEIMEI? SHE BETTER NOT BE SOMEWHERE SHE SHOULDN'T!" Kagome shouted.

"STOP YELLING AT ME! THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF _YOU_ JUST KEPT YOUR PROMISE!" Itaru shouted back.

"AND WHERE IS THE REAL KOJIRO?"

"Uhhh…I don't know what you're talking about…" Itaru said, feigning innocence.

"YOU KNOW GOOD AND WELL WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT! NOW WHERE IS HE?"

"HE IS SAFE, OKAY? GET OFF MY BACK, WOULD YA?"

"UGGGHHHHH! YOU ARE SOOO ANNOYING! YOU ARE JUST AS IRRITATING AS INUYASHA! I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED A BIT IF YOU _WERE_ RELATED!"

"WELL…I…YOU…YOURE ANNOYING TOO! YOU'RE ALWAYS COMPLAINING! INUYASHA IS ALWAYS LOOKING OUT FOR YOU AND MAKING SURE YOU ARE HAPPY AND OKAY, BUT LET HIM DO _ONE THING_ WRONG, YOU THROW A HISSY FIT! I MEAN, GIVE THE GUY A BREAK, WOULD YA? YEAH HE HITS SHIPPO A LOT, BUT ITS PROBABLY 'CAUSE HE DESERVES IT ANYWAYS! THINK OF ALL THE TIMES SOTA SAID SOMETHING THAT ANNOYED YOU, DIDN'T _YOU_ WANT TO PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE TOO? AND HE IS ALWAYS WATCHING YOU BECAUSE _HE CARES ABOUT YOU!"_ Itaru shouted.

"Itaru, I—"

"INUYASHA MAY NOT BE THE SMARTEST GUY ON THE PLANET, BUT AT LEAST HE HAS A HEART! AND WHATEVER HE COMES SHORT ON IN INTELLIGENCE, HE MAKES UP FOR IT IN STRENGTH! HE WORKS HARDER THAN ANY OF YOU HUMANS COMBINED! HE KNOWS MORE ABOUT HOW TO SURVIVE THAN ALL OF YOU! AS A MATTER OF FACT, IF IT WASN'T FOR HIM, YOU GUYS WOULD ALL STARVE TO DEATH! AND IM NOT GOING TO EVEN _MENTION _ALL THE TIMES HE _SAVED _YOUR SORRY ASSES!" Itaru continued, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Itaru….."

"INUYASHA IS OVERBEARING, SURE! HES OVERBEARING BECAUSE HE HAS NEVER _HAD _FRIENDS UNTIL _NOW!_ HE THINKS OF ALL OF YOU GUYS AS THE FAMILY HE ALWAYS WISHED FOR! BUT ALL YOU GUYS SEE ARE HIS SHORTCOMINGS! IF INUYASHA AND I _WERE_ RELATED, IF HE WAS _MY FATHER_, ID COUNT MYSELF PRETTY DAMN LUCKY TO HAVE HIM AS A FATHER!"

"Itaru…I…I didn't mean to make you upset, really. I was just frustrated and afraid that we would get in trouble. It was selfish of me. I'm really sorry." Kagome said apologetically.

"It's whatever." Itaru said folding his arms across his chest.

"I didn't mean to make it seem like I was insulting Inuyasha. It's just that, whenever I try to do something on my own, he always makes it hard for me. And I really get upset when that happens. And I thought that now that Inuyasha wasn't here, I would finally get something done. So I guess when you stepped in, I got carried away…and I know that Inuyasha is not trying to be obnoxious on purpose, I guess I kind of forget that sometimes."

"Humph! Sure didn't sound like it." Itaru scoffed.

"I'm sorry, will you forgive me?"

"It's whatever…sorry I bothered you _Kagome._" Itaru turned around and walked to the edge of the building. When Kagome thought that he was leaving, she stopped him, "wait, Itaru!" Itaru whirled around to face her.

"I think it's better if you stay. Now that everyone has seen your face." Kagome suggested.

"Okay!" Itaru agreed.

"But first, we really have to do something about those ears."

"Huh? My ears? What is it with you guys and my ears?"

"Here! Use this! "Kagome pulled out a blue bandana and put it on top of his head, covering his ears. "There! No one will ever know!" Kagome said proudly.

"WHAT? WHAT DID YOU SAY! FAIR? NO ONE WILL EVER SHOW? WHY NOT?"

'Well, I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.…' Kagome thought.

~*0*~

Meimei was a few miles away at another school watching intently at the activity inside.

"Wow, look at them all!" the little kids were sitting down at their desks listening to their instructor teach them about various studies.

"Wow! I wish could be them! They are so lucky! I wish _I_ could go to school…" Meimei said admiringly.

Suddenly, a loud bell rang across the campus. Meimei covered her sensitive ears and watched as the little children raced out of the classroom. "YAAY RECESS!" "Hey Kimi, you wanna play with us?" "Hey Sota! Wanna play ball?"

Meimei looked up at the mention of Sota's name.

Sota was walking towards the door with two other boys. "Sure! What are we playing? "Baseball, dude!" One of his friends said.

"Alright! I'll be at bat this time!" Sota said.

"Cool!" the other friend said. "Let's go!"

"Baseball? Must be some kind of game? Sounds like fun! I'm going to go play too!" Meimei jumped off of the ledge of the window and out in the back of the school were there was a big open field.

Sota and his friends were already there. Sota held a long stick, his friends held a little white ball and the other held a baseball glove.

Meimei sat in the bushes watching intently.

Alright! You better be ready for this one, Sota! Ive been practicing with my dad and he is in the minor league!"

"Just throw the ball, Keiji!"Sota yelled.

Keiji wound up his pitch and threw it as hard as he could.

"Oh NO! THAT BOY IS GOING TO HURT SOTA! THAT'S NOT PLAYING NICE!"

Meimei dashed out of the bushes and across the field. Before Sota could even take a swing at it the ball disappeared.

"Huh?" Sota said.

"Hey Higurashi! Where did the ball go?"

"I-I-I-I don't know… I didn't hit it, I would have known it if I did…"

"Well lucky I got some more…" Keiji said.

"Well that's a relief. Let's get back to the game!" Sota said.

"Alright!"

Keiji wound up for another pitch and launched it out of his hand.

'This time, I'm gonna hit it right out of the park!' Sota thought. He prepared for the ball to come, but it never did.

"What? Keiji, are you missing on purpose? I thought you have been training with your dad…" Sota teased.

"What? That was supposed to be a direct hit! That was a surefire for a strike! Where did the ball go?"

Meimei giggled in the bushes holding the two balls in her hands. "That'll teach you to try and hurt Sota!"

"Hey, hold on a minute…" 'I have a strange feeling that those balls didn't disappear on their own." He looked over to the bushes where Meimei was hiding. "I'll be right back!" Sota called out to his companions.

"Well hurry up! We only have ten more minutes until we go inside!" Keiji said.

Sota walked over to the bushes and heard little bubbles of laughter.

"Now I've seen everything. A laughing bush. Seriously, Inuyasha! Why aren't you bothering my sister? Did she get annoyed with you already?"

"I'm not Inuyasha! I'm Meimei!" Meimei said emerging from the bushes.

"MEIMEI! GET DOWN!" Sota hissed, pushing her head back into the bushes.

"Hey, Sota! Are you okay?" his friends called.

"Y-y-yeah! Everything is great! I found the balls but they are kind of in a difficult spot!"

"Do you want us to come and help you out?" Keiji said starting to advance towards them.

"NO!"

"Uh…. Okay….."

"Meimei! Give me those balls back right now!"

"He was trying to hurt you Sota!"

"No Meimei! We were just playing a game, that's all! He wasn't trying to hurt me!'

"Oh…how do you play? I wanna play too!"

"No! My friends will freak!"

"No they won't! I'm cute, aren't I?" Meimei said batting her lashes flintily.

"That's not it! You have those dog ears and you have a tail! I cant let you go out like that!"

"Like what, Sota?" said a voice from behind. Sota froze in place. 'awww crap crap CRAP!'

"Hey, who is that?" Keiji said.

"Hi! I'm Meimei!" Meimei greeted brightly.

"Meimei!"

"Hey do you know her?"

"Uhhhhh….."

"Yeah!" Meimei piped up.

"How is she related to you?" Sota's other friend asked.

"Uhhh she is my cousin! Yeah! My cousin!" Sota lied.

"No I'm not…." Meimei said.

"YES YOU ARE! YOU UNCLE INUYASHA'S KID!" Sota declared.

'Well, that might be true, but that wouldn't make us cousins….'

"Oh cool! You didn't tell us you had a cousin, Higurashi!" Keiji said.

"Ummm yeah! They live in….uhhhh….. AMERICA! YEAH! They live in America that's why we never talk about them because we never get to see them half the time! Hahahahaha!" Sota laughed nervously.

"Well that explains the weird hair and eyes… " Sota's other friend said

"those Americans…" Keiji sighed.

"America…where is that?"

"So, Meimei, you wanna play with us?"

"Ummm sure. I guess…" Meimei said.

The four children returned to the field and to their game.

"Hey Meimei! How would you like to bat?" Keiji suggested.

"Umm okay, that's fine. Do I just hit the ball?

"Yeah? You know how to play baseball, right? You are from America, after all.

"I've never played this game in my life!"

"Okay then, its real simple! I throw you the ball and you try to hit it. If you miss three times, you are out."

"What if I hit the ball?"

"Then you run for first base. One of us is supposed to catch the ball. If they catch the ball and they throw it to the person on base before you do, you are out. But if you make a home run, you run past all the bases to be home free. "

"Oh that sounds very difficult, but lots of fun!"

"You got it now?" Keiji asked.

"I think so!" Meimei said.

"Alright! I'm not going to hold back on you 'cause you're a girl!" Keiji said.

"I don't want you to!" Meimei sneered.

'Oh goodness…' Sota thought.

"Batter up!" Keiji shouted. He wound up for his pitch and launched it out of his hand.

'Is that what he calls a throw? My grandpa can throw better than that. And he is a flea!' Meimei thought haughtily. Meimei swung the bat as hard as she could and it let out a thunderous _CRACK!_ The baseball whizzed like a bullet into the air and disappeared into the clouds. The two boys stared up into the sky with absolute awe.

"HOORAY! I WIN!" Meimei cheered. She ran at lightning speed past the bases

"YAAAAY! This game is fun! Can we do it again?" Meimei asked.

"uhhhhh….." the boys said.

The bell rang a second time, signaling the end of recess.

"We should do this again sometime! See ya later!" Meimei said bounding off.

The three boys stared in shock.

'Oh gosh! How am I supposed to explain _that!_' Sota thought woefully.

"WOW, SOTA! YOU DIDN'T TELL US SHE WAS SUPER GIRL!" Keiji exclaimed

"SUPER GIRL? THAT WAS OBVIOUSLY CAT WOMAN! GET YOUR HEROES RIGHT!" the other friend corrected.

"Whaaaaa?"

"Dude, Sota! You _have _to let us see her again!" Keiji requested.

"WHAAAT?"  
"Yeah! You have to! We have to know what its like to be a super hero!"

"Uhhh sorry you guys… she is busy with… y'know… super hero stuff. "

"Aww."

"Well that really sucks. But she did say we should do it again! Do you think she will want to play with us again, Sota?" Keiji exclaimed.

"Uhhh maybe…?"

"COOL! Wait until my big brother hears about this! He will be so jealous!"

'Wow that was a little too close for my sanity…' Sota thought.

…..

Itaru and Kagome returned to the classroom where the teacher was almost done with the review.

"Ahh, you have returned!" Mr. Mitsuharu said. "But what now with the bandana? Those are banned as well, you know."

"Umm, when I accidentally hit his head, it took out a chunk of his hair. He is too embarrassed to be seen around with a bald spot on his head, especially on his first day." Kagome explained.

"oh is that so? Well I can relate. I suppose it is alright for today." Mr. Mitsuharu said rubbing his own balding head. "well then, if everything is now in order, we may begin the test! Mr. Ienari, you may just do something quietly."

"I can chew something dietly? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Ummm alright…let's begin class!"

"Okay! Let's do this!"

…..

When the testing was over, Kagome breathed a sigh of relief. 'one down, two more to go…'

"Hey Kagome! How did you do?" Itaru said.

"I think I did okay, considering the circumstances." Kagome said.

"Hey. Kagome!" said Yuka.

"Oh hey guys! How did the test go for you all?"

"Number 23 had me stumped! I mean, how am I supposed to know what the outcome of Sekigahara was and how it influenced Japanese history! I wasn't there!"

'But I was. And Itaru too…'

"Oh that's easy! The battle of Sekigahara was a big turning point for the shogunate Ieyasu Tokugawa. It was the unofficial beginning of his regime. But it would take three more years to overthrow the Toyotomi clan once and for all. I don't know anything after that…"

"Wow! You must be a real history buff, huh?" Ayumi said.

"Uh I guess…"Itaru said.

"Hey! You should come with us to the arcade after school today! What do you say, Kojiro?"

"Arcade? What is that?" Itaru asked.

"They _do _have arcades in Great Britain, don't they?" Eri said.

"Uh I wouldn't know…I've never been there…"

"You mean you've _never _been to an arcade before?"Ayumi asked in awe.

"No?" Itaru said.

"Well its settled then! You have to come with us, Kojiro! You are missing out a whole bunch! What do you say, Kagome?"

"Uhhhhhh….."

"Alright! How does 5:30 sound?" Yuka suggested.

"Fine, I suppose." Itaru complied.

'CRAP this day just gets worse and worse and WORSE!' Kagome thought.

"Okay, enough chit chat! Let's get lunch!" Yuka said.

"Oh now I like the sound of that!" Itaru exclaimed.

All four of the girls opened their lunch boxes to reveal delicious food. "Mmm-mmm! I'm starving! Oh wait, Kojiro you don't have a lunch?" Ayumi asked.

"Uh no." Itaru said. His stomach grumbled viciously in affirmation.

"Well you can share our lunches!" Yuka said.

"Yeah! Especially mine, I hate pickled plums! I don't know how people can eat them!" Eri said.

"Thanks!" the girls placed all of their unwanted foods onto a napkin for Itaru to eat

'Wow, they really seem to be getting along. He could really fit in here! He is smart, he doesn't seem to be a knucklehead like Inuyasha…'

"Wow! That was good! Now where is the outhouse for this place?" Itaru said.

"Outhouse? What do you mean outhouse?" Yuka said.

"You know…the place where…you know…." Itaru said embarrassed.

"Oh you mean the restroom! I'll show you where it is! Come with me!" Eri said.

"Outhouse? I wonder why he calls it that?" Yuka said.

"Maybe he used to live in a historical community?" Ayumi said. "what do you think. Kagome?"

"Umm… historical community sounds about right!"

"Wow, that must have been an interesting lifestyle. But I wonder how he will adjust to modernity?"

"Well, we will just wait and see, wont we Kagome?

"Yeah. If that's the case, he isn't doing too bad." 'Not bad at all, Itaru. Not bad at all.'

…

The hallway was buzzing with activity. People meeting up with each other for lunch and talking about their day. 'wow, so many people!' Itaru thought.

"The restroom is this way!" Eri announced.

"Oh wow! The outhouse is inside? I wonder how they keep the smell contained?"

"Wow, Kojiro! You're a real card! But you seem really cool! And even kind of cute!" Eri said coyly.

"uhh well thanks, Eri. I appreciate your—" Itaru was cut off by a big shoulder against his own.

"HEY! WATCH IT – oh hey! It's the furry!" the shoulder belonged to the boy Kenta, the one who blew the whistle about his ears.

"Huh? Who you callin' furry?" Itaru spat.

"You, you little punk! Listen here, I rule these hallways, so you'd better stay out of my way!"

"Who died and made _you _king, huh?"

"Itaru…" Eri whispered.

"Oh yeah! I forgot you're a newbie. I guess I have to school you on the pecking order. its you, the dirt, the worms, my shit, my girlfriend and then _me_! Got that?"

"But Kenta, you don't have a girlfriend!" Eri corrected. Then Kenta grabbed Eri and crudely pressed his lips against hers. When Eri could tear away from his grasp, she wiped her mouth. "I do now, bitch!"

"KENTA THAT WAS DISGUISTING!"

"What? You sayin' I aint good enough for you? You would take this furry over me?"

"Kenta, we aren't—"

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Itaru shouted standing guard in front of her.

"Oh so you both _do_ have a thing for each other! That's a laugh!" then Kenta stood up to Itaru and towered over him.

"But let this be a warning to you furry, _get in my way and the floor will be wearing your face!"_

"Hah! I wanna see you try!" Itaru scoffed.

"Oh you'll see…"

"What is the meaning of this!" Mr. Mitsuharu said walking up to the two.

"Oh nothing Mr. Mitsuharu, just showing our new classmate where the restroom was."

Kenta leered at Itaru with malicious eyes. Itaru stared back with the same intensity.

"Come on Kojiro, lets mind our own business." Eri said.

* * *

okay now that was a good filler chapter.

still no internet. TT_TT


	11. Chapter 11: night on the town

Inuyasha Regashi

Okay this is definitely going to be more than 10 chapters as you can see. Maybe 20. Lets try that!

"So where were you?" Itaru asked.

"I was… around…." Meimei lied

"She was at my school!" Sota said.

"You were at Sota's school?" Kagome gasped.

"Yeah she was! She really impressed my friends!" Sota said proudly.

"Your friends saw her!"

"yeah! They thought that she was cat woman or something!"

"EWWW! I'm not a cat I'm a dog!"

"so what are you doing with your afternoon, Kagome?"

"Well I _was_ going to study, but Mr. popular over here got invited to the arcade with Eri, Yuka and Ayumi."

"Well, you can always stay here. I can take care of myself." Itaru said.

"Oh no you don't!" Kagome commanded.

"Awww come on, Kagome! I can do things for myself! I mean, this world can't be that difficult to understand—"

Suddenly, the phone rang. Itaru jumped and hid behind Mrs. Higurashi.

"Relax, Itaru! It's just the phone. That must be them now."

"Higurashi residence?" Kagome answered.

"Hey Kagome! Are you still coming with us to the arcade?" a voice asked over the receiver.

"Yeah Yuka, I'm coming."

"Great! Bring your dance shoes, then! We are going to try out that new DDR game!"

"DDR? I love that game! But I don't know if ita—er Kojiro will know how to play."

"Don't worry about that! Leave the teaching to us! "

"Alright, if you say so." Kagome sighed.

"Okay, Higurashi! See you in a few!" there was a click and then a silence.

"Who was that, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. "Oh just Yuka reminding me of our get together."

"I wanna go too!" Meimei said.

"No!" Itaru said.

"You never let me do _anything_!" Meimei whined.

"Why don't you go back with Inuyasha and the others?" Itaru said.

"But it's more fun here!" Meimei protested.

"No, Meimei! I'm not babysitting tonight! Just go back through the well!"

"No I'm not! And I'm _not_ a baby!

"No Meimei! You are going back with Inuyasha and that's final!" Itaru commanded.

Meimei stared down at the floor in defeat. "I miss mama. She let me do anything I wanted. You're such a meanie Itaru!" Meimei shouted as she bolted out of the door.

"Itaru…" Kagome began.

"Meimei needs to learn that she can't have her way all the time. That's what father was trying to teach her."

"I'm sorry if I make it seem like you guys are an inconvenience to us. its just that people are a lot more judgmental than you think. They won't know what to make of you guys. You can sort of get away with it, with your hair; and if you keep your scarf on, no one will notice. "

"What are you talking about, Kagome? There is no way Itaru can get by like that!" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Uhh what do you mean, mom?"

"Look at how the poor boy is dressed! He is dressed like he is ready to go to a historical fair!" Mrs. Higurashi critiqued

"Oh…right…his clothes are a little bit outdated…" 'Almost four hundred years…'

"But what's wrong with my clothes? It's made from the cloth of the fire rat! Best material you could ever get!"

"Cloth schmoth! You, my boy need a makeover!" Mrs. Higurashi declared.

"a make-what?" Itaru said confusingly.

"Mom, please don't…."

"I just got this new platinum credit card and it is itching for me to use it! What do you say, Kagome?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"uhh mom I think that maybe…"

"Then its settled! Get in the car kids! We are going shopping!"

"Oh dear god…" Sota moaned.

The whole family with the exception of grandpa Higurashi piled into the little Honda and headed straight to downtown. Mrs. Higurashi first stopped at a high end boutique and threw Itaru a boatload of clothes.

"Uhhh are you really going to buy all of these? I've never owned this much clothes in my entire life!"

"Oh no! we just have to try and see what works for you!" Mrs. Higurashi said shoving the boy into the nearest dressing room. "Now go and try them on!"

"Uhhh, Higurashi-san, what is this? He held up a hooded sweatshirt with a red design on it. "Oh that's a hoodie! You pull that over your head!"

"Okay…" they heard some rustling and then some grunting behind the dressing room door. "Can't….get…out of here! Where the hell am I ? I'm trapped! Someone help me!"

"Oh no!" Kagome moaned. Kagome rushed over to the dressing room and saw a trapped Itaru clawing his way out of the hoodie. Kagome helped him to find the head sleeve and out of the darkness.

" This damned thing trapped me in an alternate world! I couldn't see anything!" Itaru huffed.

"It's okay, Itaru. You're safe now." Kagome reassured.

"I guess hoodies are out of the question." Sota mumbled.

"Okay then, try these on!" Mrs. Higurashi handed Itaru a pair of white skinny jeans. "what the hell are these?"Itaru spat. "They're skinny jeans." Kagome said.

"How am I supposed to get into these?"

"Believe me, it's a challenge." Kagome informed. She closed the door and left Itaru on his own. Then a few seconds later, they heard more noises in the dressing room. "come on! whooooh whoooh whooooaaaah!" then followed a loud crash. "Oh no! Maybe I should have picked a looser fit!"

Kagome rushed to his rescue once more and helped Itaru off of the floor, entangled in a mess-heap of clothing.

"Itaru! Are you okay?'

"guuuhhh…"

She offered her hand to him and pulled him up. "Okay, now all you have to do is suck in as much as you can, okay?"

"Okay." Itaru sucked in his gut and kagome fastened the button. Kagome peeked up at the boy and he just held his breath as she adjusted the front of his pants.

"Okay that should do it."

"I CANT EVEN WALK IN THESE!" Itaru complained waddling outside.

"It takes a little practice!" Kagome said.

"These trousers are so constricting! How can anyone wear these!" Itaru complained.

"Okay then I got a looser pair." Mrs. Higurashi said handing them a looser pair of jeans. This pair of jeans had a distressed detail down the front of the legs. Itaru switched to the more comfortable pair and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow these are a whole lot more comfortable! But it looks like someone has already worn them and like had a whole bunch of fights in them…"

"They're supposed to be that way." Sota said.

"Yeah, its fashionable to have torn up pants in our time." Kagome said.

After picking out the jeans, they settled on a green V-neck t-shirt under a white short sleeved dress shirt.

"There we go! Not to dressy but not too casual!" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Itaru looked at himself in the mirror and said, "What strange robes. The y are so tight and form fitting!"

"These are clothes influenced by western culture," Kagome explained.

"Western culture?"

"Yeah, nations from the west came to Japan and opened its doors to the outside world after many years of isolationism! They are the reason japan has so much technology now!"

"Nations from the west? Do you mean those barbarians from the continent?" Itaru asked."that's awful! Those barbarians took over japan!" Itaru shouted, causing the other customers in the store to stare at them.

"No no! It's not that! They didn't take over Japan, they just suggested some things that would make our country better! Japan is still its own independent nation!"

"Oh…" Itaru said.

"Alright! How about some shoes?" Mrs. Higurashi suggested.

"Shoes? No way!"

"Why ever not, dear? You might step on something sharp or stub your toe!"

"I've never worn shoes in my life! Father says that they are annoying and constricting! It's so much better to just walk around barefoot!"

"But dear! You have to wear shoes! Around here it's the law!" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"What? What idiot made that a law? Not everyone can afford shoes that wear out in a month or so anyways!"

"It's a different story here, Itaru. Everyone can afford as much shoes and clothes as they want. Its no big deal to buy new shoes." Kagome said.

"How about sandals? They aren't to constricting and you can get away with wearing them." Sota said holding up a pair of plain black sandals. Itaru observed the strange pair of thongs and looked around him at all the other options

"What other kinds of shoes are there?" Itaru said.

"oh there are lots of kinds! There are sneakers, there are boots. For girls there are a lot more options." Sota informed.

Itaru looked at a pair of brightly colored converses with a comic book design on them. "Wow! These must cost a fortune!" Itaru gasped.

"Not really. There actually pretty affordable. They're really popular." Sota said. "I want a pair myself!"

"We will get some for your birthday, Sota." Mrs. . Higurashi said. Mrs. Higurashi thought for a moment. "Hey Kagome, what do you think of getting Inuyasha some clothes for when he is here?" she suggested.

"He'll never wear it." Kagome said.

"You never know! He might come to like it!" Mrs. Higurashi said happily.

"I don't know about that…" Kagome mumbled.

"Do you think that he wears a medium or a large?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

When they finally found a pair of sandals that was to Itaru's liking, they checked out with bags full of clothes and Itaru in his new outfit. Kagome looked at the bag of Inuyasha's clothes. In it was a black vested hoodie, a white t-shirt and the same pair of jeans as Itaru.

'I wonder what Inuyasha would have been like had he lived in this era. I wonder if he is still living today, and if so, where is he?'

"Alright, where do you guys need to be dropped off?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Right here is fine." Kagome said. They stopped right in front of a brightly lit building. The two got out of the car and stood in front of the building. "Be safe, you two!"

Itaru gazed in awe of the bright lights and colors. The smell of the city was a flood of pleasant and unpleasant smells. He could smell food that he had never seen or smelled before and the strong stench of sewage. The noises of strange contraptions unknown to him created a symphony of sounds that were both annoying and intriguing. Itaru crouched to the ground, overwhelmed by his delicate senses.

'Itaru! Are you okay?" Kagome said hovering over Itaru.

"Its…all…so…much!" Itaru moaned. "how can Inuyasha handle all this noise! And the smells!"

"I guess he has gotten used to it, the few times he has been here." Kagome said. "But don't worry about it , you will get used to it to and—'

"Hey! Kagome! Kojiro!" came a voice behind them.

"Eri!" Eri, Ayumi and Yuka ran up to the two waving their hands.

"You guys made it! Did you guys come together or did you meet up here?" Ayumi said.

"ummm we came here together." Kagome said.

"Are you ready for this, Kojiro? This is going to be so much fun! I know you will love it!" Yuka said.

"Umm I guess." Itaru mumbled.

"Well c'mon! Let's go!" Eri said grabbing his elbow and dragging him away.

"Well well well, it seems as if Eri has taken a liking to our new student." Yuka said.

"Yeah…" Kagome mumbled.

"Hey Kagome, why didn't you invite your boyfriend, Inuwasha was it?" Ayumi asked.

"No, I think his name was Onimusha" Yuka said.

"But you know, that's probably not even his real name. Who names their kid iniyasha anyways?" Ayumi said.

"His name is Inuyasha. And no, he didn't want to come. He had other things to do." Kagome said.

"Aww, what a bummer! I think he would have liked the arcade too. Oh well, maybe next time!" Yuka said disappointed.

"Well I guess we should catch up with Eri and Kojiro! I hope they saved us a spot in line for the new DDR game!" Ayumi said.

The three girls went inside of the arcade where there were hundreds of people playing various video games. Fighting games, racing games and even sports games. Eri and Itaru were already in a line that was quite long and growing .

"Great! You saved us a spot!" Yuka said. "I can't wait to try this new game out!"

"Me neither!" Ayumi agreed.

"This will be so much fun! And I have a feeling that you are going to be a pro at it!" Eri said holding onto Itaru's arm.

"Uh what makes you think that?" Itaru said, a blush tinting his cheeks.

"Oh I can spot talent when I see it! I mean, look at how you're built! Don't tell me you don't work out or anything!"

"Well, I do chop wood on a regular basis. But that's no big thing! I can cut wood with my bare hands!" Itaru said pridefully.

"Oh! You must be a master at karate! Tell me, are you a black belt?" Eri said in admiration.

"Uh karate?" Itaru said confused.

"Oh, then you must be taking kung fu or tae kwon do or something like that! That's too cool Kojiro!" Yuka said.

"Well, thanks!" Kojiro said, his chest puffing out with pride. It took fifteen minutes for the four companions to be next in line. "oh boy, I can't wait!" Eri said in anticipation.

The group watched as the people already playing battled it out. Their feet moved swiftly with the music at the direction of the screen.

"See, Kojiro? You just watch the screen and you tap your foot to the corresponding square on the dance pad. It's that simple!" Yuka said.

When the match was over, the victor roared in triumph as his entourage behind him congratulated him.

"You go, Kenta!"

"Yeah boss! You're really whippin all these losers!"

"Alright! Who's next?"

When the group realized who was in front of them, they took a step back.

"Kenta!"

"It's him again!"'

"What's he doing here?"

"Hey! Whose-hey, look who it is! It's the furry!" Kenta said mockingly.

…

I GOT MY INTERNET BACK! HALLELUJAH!

Yeah, I guess that I wont be done with this story in ten chapters like I promised. I hope you guys don't mind.


	12. Chapter 12: Showdown! the DDR challenge

Inuyasha Regashi

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Laziness is a terrible disease that has no medicine but one's own will

…

Meimei emerged from the bone eater's well into the inky dark night. The stars above sprinkled the sky above. The moon was at the halfway point and seemed like a bright lemon slice. The mixed chorus of frogs and crickets filled the night with their song. But that was not enough to satiate her frustration with her older brother; which boiled over and plastered a scowl on her face.

"Stupid Itaru! Who put him in charge? Why is he always so bossy! Ugh! I can't stand him!" Meimei growled and punched a hole in the ledge of the well.

"Oi! Don't break the well! Kagome needs to come back!" came a voice not far away.

"Oh im sorry, Inuyasha. I was just really upset." Meimei apologized.

"Who are you supposed to be upset with?" Inuyasha asked.

"Itaru. He's so bossy and mean! He was going to go somewhere with Kagome and her friends but he said for me to come back here!i hate him so much!" Meimei shouted.

"humph, You don't hate him." Inuyasha said matter of factly.

"Yeah I do! I hate him so much! He is always making fun of me, telling me that I'm stupid and that I'm a big fat crybaby and that I can't even fight!"

"Do you hate him enough to kill him?" Inuyasha asked. Meimei was taken aback by the question.

"o-of course not! I would never want to do that!" Meimei confessed.

"Then you don't hate him. Be grateful for what you have, Meimei. Your brother could be as cold as hell is hot and his only objective is to kill. Not everyone has been blessed with a brother who looks out for you as much as he does." Inuyasha said.

Meimei knew exactly what he meant.

"You are lucky, Meimei. Hanyous like you and I aren't supposed to live past infancy, much less adulthood. But from what I've gathered, your parents protected you really well. I bet they fought with their last ounce of strength to make sure you guys would make it out okay." Inuyasha said.

Tears welled in Meimei's eyes. Her parents _did_ protect her and itaru. Itaru fought by his father's side until the battle was too intense to continue. Itaru objected profusely, vowing that he would die at his father's side. But father would not have it. He ordered their uncle to take them to safety.

"Itaru is all you have. Cherish the friendship you both share as brother and sister. And never forget your parents…and I promise I will personally kill Naraku for the both of you." Inuyasha vowed.

"oh Inuyasha!" Meimei cried, running over to hug him. She sat in his lap and snuggled into the folds of his kosode. (A/N don't know if that's the proper term, if not, by all means let me know;)

'So warm. Just like papa.' Meimei thought. Inuyasha softened at the little girl's embrace and wrapped his arms around her little shoulders.

"You know, my papa used to hold me just like this…" Meimei whispered. Inuyasha just sighed and let the little child drift slowly to sleep.

~*0*~

"So it is you, furry! Have you come to get your ass whooping? Let me tell you, this is _my _favorite game and I NEVER lose!" Kenta said boastfully.

"Come on, you guys. Lets get out of here. We can play DDR some other time." Kagome said to Itaru. Itaru stayed silent and only glared at Kenta. When they turned to leave, one of his gang members stopped them in their tracks, "and where do you think _you're_ going?" he said in a raspy voice.

"We are going to mind our own business, that's where we are going! Yuka said.

"you and the furry aren't going to get away that easy! You're going to play DDR with Kenta!" the grunt said.

"Yeah? Well what if I don't want to?" Itaru said.

"We'll make you and your girlfriends regret it!" another grunt said, cracking his knuckles.

"Well if you guys want a fight, you got yourself a deal!" Itaru said, smirking.

"No Itaru! We can't draw so much attention to ourselves! " Kagome whispered..

"But Kagome, they aren't going to let us go easy. I have to do something!" he whispered back.

"Take him up on his offer! Play him at DDR!"

"But I've never played that game in my entire life!" Itaru hissed.

"Just do it!

Itaru growled at the prospect that he might lose to an imbecile like kenta. But he wasn't about to back down. He stood up to Kenta and looked at him straight in the eye and said menacingly "you're on."

Kagome took a careful look at Itaru's face, at that instant, Kagome thought 'is it just my imagination, or did Itaru look like Inuyasha just then.'

"Alright! Best two out of three!" Kenta said.

Itaru stepped up to the DDR pad and stared down at the lit up arrows that faced front, back, left and right. He looked up to the big LCD screen that flashed bright colors. Itaru was speechless in confusion. 'What are these contraptions? I have no idea! Dammit, what did I get myself into?'

"You can do it, Kojiro! All you have to do is tap the squares that the screen tells you to!" Kagome yelled to him. "But don't get caught off guard! This game can be really tricky!" Kagome said.

'Yeah just what I needed. A reminder of how hard this game is going to be. Well here we go!"

The screen flashed a READY, SET, GO! And the two were off. The strange, other-worldly music blasted out of the speakers (A/N: the song that they are dancing to is butterfly). Itaru turned to the screen and saw the steps:

Left, left,right,right,left,left,right,right,left,left,rightright,left,left,right right, up+down, left+right!

The song suddenly became faster and more intense. The beat of the bass reverberated in his sensitive ears. Kenta was moving at a very fast pace. Itaru struggled to keep up the screen kept on flashing miss, his frustration rising with each miss.

'Dammit! I keep missing! How am I supposed to do this?"

In a matter of a few minutes, the round was over. The screen flashed. "BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!"

"HAHAHA! KENTA: 1, FURRY: 0!"

"Dammit!" Itaru cursed under his breath. "I lost! I can't lose again! Not to this simpleton!"

"Come on, Kojiro! We know you can beat him! Kenta is just a big asshole! If he gets too full of himself, he will mess up!" Yuka cheered.

The screen flashed to start again. This song was slower than the other song, at first, but then picked up. (song 'With you' by AAA this is the first ending song to Inuyasha final act)'I have to find a way to do this! But wait…if I just think of this as dodging attacks when I'm fighting…' Itaru thought. He imagined that he was dodging attacks from an opponent. Soon enough, his movements were coordinating with the steps on the screen; words like 'GREAT' and 'AWESOME!' popped up and more and more points were added to his tally. When the song ended, Itaru was declared the winner.

"Yeah! Now that's what im talking about!" Itaru said proudly.

"YAAAY KOJIRO!" the girls cheered.

Kenta growled and said. "SO WHAT! YOU WON ONE GAME? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN BEAT ME AGAIN?"

"Shut your face and play!" Itaru said.

"Alright then smart ass, We are going to play _my_ personal favorite!" Kenta said.

Kenta selected a song on the screen called SIX. (by All That Remains)

"Oh no! Not Six! (by All That Remains)" someone in the crowd said.

"Stick a fork in that kid, he's done!"

"Oh no! This is Kenta's best stage! How is Kojiro going to beat him?" Ayumi said.

"Don't worry! I know he'll beat Kenta!" kagome said hopefully.

The song started and a flurry of notes flew out of the speaker at a incredible pace. The arrows on the raced across the screen as he struggled to keep up.

'Those voices sound like demons! Demons inside of the game! Ive got to beat this thing!'

Itaru's legs went as fast as they could. Both of the players' legs were blurring at the sheer speed.

"Wow! That kid is good!"

"But do you think that he is good enough to beat Kenta?"

"Of course he will! that guy is a dick! Come on, kid! Show 'em what you're made of!"

Itaru and Kenta kept their eyes to the screen, not wanting to miss a beat. The end picked up in speed and their legs picked up with it. The song finally ended in a handstand in which Itaru nailed.

"Hah! Whadaya think about those moves!" Itaru boasted.

Kenta just glared at his opponent and then turned to the screen for the results. The game tallied up the player's scores

PLAYER 1: 93%

"YEAH! THAT'S WHAT IM TALKIN ABOUT!" kenta said

PLAYER 2: 100%

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH?"

"Alright! I did it!" Itaru cheered. The rest of the crowd behind him applauded as well. His friends ran up to him for a group hug.

"See, Kojiro? I told you you'd be a pro!" Eri said.

"Yeah I guess you did!" Itaru said, bashfully scratching his head.

"That was so awesome, Ienari! Now that guy can get off of your back at school!" Yuka said.

"We should take you to the arcade all the time!" Ayumi suggested.

"eh, maybe not." Itaru said.

"I guess we can get going you guys! I hope that—"

"Oh no you're not! You little twats aren't going anywhere!" came a raspy voice behind them. There standing was one of Kenta's grunts with a devilish smirk on his face.

"Hey, what's the big idea! He beat Kenta fair and square!" Kagome said.

"oh did we forget to tell you, that if you beat Kenta, that we would have to keep you quiet?" another grunt said.

"oh, is Kenta a sore loser? Is he upset that the new kid beat him at his own game?" Itaru said mockingly.

"You shut your mouth you little bastard, or we will shut it for you!" grunt number one shouted.

" I'd love to see that!" Itaru beckoned.

The two grunts charged at the boy who only stood with a smirk on his face. When grunt 1 attempted to punch him, he ducked and punched him in the gut. The grunt fell to the ground and moaned in pain.

"he missed, but I won't!" said grunt 2. Taking advantage of the fact that he was on the ground, he tried to knee Itaru in the face. But Itaru back flipped just in time. When the second grunt landed, Itaru did a sweep-kick that made him fall flat on his back.

"You said that you wouldn't miss. That looked like a miss to me!" Itaru mocked.

"Okay! Let's get out of here before we really get in trouble!" Kagome said dragging Itaru and her other friends out of the arcade. They ran out into a flood of people outside of the building.

"Whatever you do, stay together guys!" Eri said.

They walked huddled together in the bright downtown of Tokyo. They looked anxiously around themselves to make sure that they weren't being followed. Kagome was walking beside Eri, until suddenly, a large rough hand grabbed her and dragged her away.

"HEY! LET GO OF ME! YOU GUYS! HELP!" Kagome shouted above the roar of the crowd.

"Kagome? Kagome!" Itaru shouted.

Kagome was being dragged by an enraged kenta away from the rest of the group

"you guys, go somewhere safe! Ill handle this!" Itaru commanded.

"Are you sure about this, Kojiro? We heard nasty rumors that Kenta has connections with the Yakuza! ""(notorious gang in japan. AKA Japanese mafia)

"I don't know what a Yakuza is, but its not gonna get in my way!" he ran after the kidnapped Kagome and left the other girls behind.

"Did he just say that he didn't know what the Yakuza is?" Yuka said.

"Maybe he spent too much time in Great Britain." Ayumi theorized.

"I think so too." Eri said.

Itaru weaved among the masses of people. trying his best to track the scent of Kagome. 'so many scents in one place! Its like finding a needle in a haystack!" the booming sounds of loudspeakers coming from buildings and the roaring of the metro train made it hard to try to decipher Kagome's voice. Then Itaru came to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk and breathed. 'if my demonic abilities arent working, maybe I can try a different approach; I can sense Kagome's spiritual powers with my own and it will point me in the right direction.' Itaru closed his eyes and concentrated deeply. Then he felt a pull of energy to his left that was moving swiftly. "There!" Itaru sprinted in the direction that the energy pull was coming from. As promised, he found Kagome being led into a dark alleyway, struggling and pulling away from her captor. "Let go of me Kenta!" Kagome cried. 'shut up, bitch!" he said pulling her harder. They were running towards a railroad behind the buildings. "Kagome!"

"Itaru!" Kagome called back. The Kenta looked back and ran faster when he realized that they were in hot pursuit. Suddenly the shrill sound of a train pierced the air. The Kenta looked towards the railroad tracks and saw the solution to his problem. The train was going very fast and it was a few yards away from them. "NO! YOU'RE CRAZY! STOP!" Kagome shouted. The Kenta slapped her to silence her and ran across the tracks. The horn became louder and louder. The blinding light of the train blinded Kagome as she screamed, "Itaru!" . The two were off the tracks in the nick of time, while Itaru on the other hand was cut off on the other side. "Dammit!" the speeding train whizzed by, allowing Itaru to see glimpses of Kagome and the kidnapper between the breaks in the cars. Itaru only saw one way to get on the other side. He took a great bound over the train and continued in pursuit. Kagome looked back to find Itaru still chasing them. "Itaru!" Kagome said in relief. The kidnapper looked back and was shocked to see that he was still being followed. But up ahead was an old abandoned warehouse, with broken windows, the doors somewhat boarded up and an unidentifiable stench. The Kenta yanked her up to the door where there was a sliding peephole "who's there?" said a gruff voice. "its kenta! And Im being followed!" Kenta hissed. "Get in! Hurry!" Kenta and Kagome were pulled into the warehouse. Itaru ran and knocked it down, bursting into a cloud of smoke with a strange, strong scent. When he looked inside, all he saw was darkness; but he could sense that he definitely wasn't alone. It was so quiet a pin could drop. He looked to his side and spotted a large piece of metal piping. 'I would rather have my Sutasaiga, but I think I'll make do with this instead.' Itaru thought. Suddenly, he heard a bunch of little clicking sounds coming from every direction. His body stood rigid and alert, then a scream pierced the air. "Itaru! WATCH OUT!"

Then a volley of explosions rang in his ears.


	13. Chapter 13: memories and encounters

Inuyasha Regashi

Sorry you guys I got poo brain.

96969696966969669696696

A cloud of loud banging noises echoed in the dark warehouse. Itaru sensed little 6

egolden bullets flying toward him at a blinding speed. Itaru deflected the little bullets with the piping in his hand, sending them flying back to where they came from. He heard a few cries of pain and heard the others start shooting again. He repelled each and every bullet with the same speed in which they were shot.

"Is that all you got?" Itaru said cockily.

"Itaru! Be careful!" Kagome screamed, followed by thud and a grunt.

"Kagome!" Itaru cried.

He jumped up on one of the ramps above him and dashed toward his opponents, whacking them hard on the heads to knock them out. The men on the other side of the warehouse started shooting again, Itaru deflecting the shots. He took a great leap across the warehouse and in front of the gang members. The gang members stared at him in abject shock. "What _are_ you? How can you deflect bullets and jump across a room like that?"

"Easy: I'm just not human." Itaru said menacingly.

He charged at the remaining men piping in hand, but suddenly his vision became blurry and lightheaded. He felt extremely relaxed and his movements became slower. "w-w-whats…happening to me…why do I feel so calm…" Itaru said groggily. The men seemed to increase in number but in reality, the number of them was the same.

"Hey boss, what's happening to him?" said one of the gang members. "I don't know…but maybe he is getting high off of the marijuana smoke.

"Hey you guys! How's it goin'? Nice night, huh?" Itaru said, his words slurring and his mind clouded.

"But it's just the smoke, boss! That shouldn't do anything to him! At least not in this big space!" said one of the grunts.

"Hey! You need to learn to kick ass and ask questions later! Let's get 'em men!" the gang members charged at Itaru fast, while Itaru only stood there and laughed.

"Whoa whoa whoa you guys! Slow it down now! We don't need to be doin no fightin stuff! I just came for…for… what _did_ I come for?"

At that moment the gang members were upon him. "Oh yeah! I need to get Kagome back!" he hit all of the men hard with the piping in his had despite being under the influence. Kagome woke up again in Kenta's arms and saw Itaru being attacked by the men. "Itaru!"

"Oh hi Kagome! I nearly forgot what I came here for! Im so glad I remembered though! But I don't know exactly why these guys want to beat me up! But that's okay, I can beat them back! Hahaahaaa!" Itaru said in a sluggish voice.

'What's wrong with Itaru…?' then Kagome sniffed the air and confirmed what it was. 'Marijuana! I knew it! to a human, second hand marijuana smoke in a non-enclosed area wouldn't do much, but to someone with a sensitive nose like Itaru, he is probably as high as a kite right now!'  
Itaru could only laugh as he kept hitting his assailants. "come on now you guys! I don't want to fight right now! I gotta take Kagome back home! How bout I come back later?"

"Goddamn you! You're high and your still so strong!" said the last standing gang member.

"oh well thank you! You're not too bad yourself for a human!" Itaru said bashfully.

"W-w-what do you mean by that!" said the gang member. Then, Itaru simply punched the guy in the face, breaking the poor man's nose. "oops! It just came out!" Itaru looked around him and saw that all the other gang members had been knocked out. He looked up at the high ramp above a big vat.

"Hey you over there! Can you give Kagome back? She is really special and it would be nice if you did!"

"HELL NO!" Kenta shouted.

"Please?" Itaru said clasping his hands and making a puppy face.

"IF YOU WANT HER, COME UP AND GET HER!" Kenta sprinted away and towards the back of the warehouse.

"Aww c'mon dude! Now I gotta kick your ass!" Itaru bounded up to the ramp and right in front of Kenta and Kagome.

"WHA-WHA-WHAT? HOW THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT! " Kenta stuttered in fear.

"Because I'm awesome." Itaru said simply. Kenta threw Kagome to the ground and charged at Itaru. Kenta tried to land a punch but was caught. Itaru then punched him hard in the gut, followed by a knee to the groin and then a hard, swift punch to the face. Kenta blanched out and lay there holding himself. Itaru walked over to Kagome as she sat up, "Itaru, are you…"

"Hey kags! I'm sorry I'm so late, those guys were so mean back there! "

'Yup, he's high alright.' Kagome thought. "let's get out of here before we get into any more trouble!"

Soon enough they were away from the warehouse when Itaru broke the silence "Kagome, there is something important you need to know about me. first of all, my first name isn't Itaru, my real name is—"

Suddenly a loud gunshot followed by a piercing pain in Itaru's back interrupted him. The two looked back at the warehouse door and saw a delusional Kenta standing there with a gun.

"We arent done here, goddammit! You embarrassed me in front of everyone, and then beat up my gang! I'm gonna make you pay!"

Kenta stood there for a second and then reached behind him and poked and prodded the entry wound of the bullet. He managed to pull the bullet straight out with only a minor amount of pain.

"Seriously? These things don't even hurt! Its more like a bee sting if I had to rate it."

"Itaru! You're okay!" Kagome said.

"Yeah? You humans can get killed by these, right? Wow you guys are weak!"

"W-w-whaaat! Kenta sputtered. He loaded the gun again and started shooting blindly at Itaru and Kagome. Itaru grabbed Kagome at the last second and placed her behind a row of oil barrels.

"wow, his mommy didn't teach him manners, did he?" Itaru jumped and ran through the barrage of bullets whizzing past him. "fine! Be a dick, Kenta!" Kenta's eyes widened with fear at Itaru's great agility.

"f-f-fuuuccckkkk!" Kenta whispered.

Itaru jumped high above him, the moon to his back and his eyes glowing red.

Itaru landed and punched him hard, sending him flying back into the warehouse with a loud crash.

"That takes care of him! Why don't we get going?" Itaru said skipping gaily.

When the two finally found their way back to where the other girls were waiting, they all walked each other home. When Kagome and Itaru finally got home, Kagome remembered something, "hey Itaru, what were you going to say to me before you were shot?"

"What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about? I didn't say anything? Why are you putting words in my mouth! Why is my mouth so dry! I need something to drink!" Itaru ran up to their house and broke in through the front door. Kagome was right behind him as he plunged his face in dish water. He came back up hacking , "what is this shit! It tastes terrible!"

"Cause its dish water, you idiot."

"Hey you guys! I didn't know you guys would be back so soon! I thought you wanted me to—* sniff sniff* why do you two smell like pot? Is there something you need to tell me young lady?" Mrs. Higurashi said sternly.

"I'll explain it to you later." Kagome said pushing Itaru up the stairs to her room.

"Hey mom! Stop! I'm a big boy, I don't want to go to bed yet!" Itaru protested.

"I'm not your mother. Get up there, shut up and go to sleep!"

Itaru just giggled and giggled.

*sigh* 'I knew this was a bad idea…'

~*0*~

_Back in the feudal era_ _deep in an obscure, dark place_.

"Naraku, it seems to me that those strange children are inu-hanyou just like Inuyasha, but I sensed a great amount of spiritual energy coming from them; a lot more than what would normally come from a hanyou of any kind. Why do you think that is?" byakuya inquired.

"hmmm this is delightfully fascinating. Two inu-hanyou with spiritual powers almost equivalent to that of a priestess. This is interesting indeed…" Naraku said in a low menacing voice. Naraku recalled a memory of Kagome and Inuyasha combining their powers to create a force that was frighteningly powerful. An idea was born in his mind, causing a frightening grin to spread across his face.

"Byakuya, would you be a good detachment for me and fetch me one of the children?" he asked.

"Okay, which one?" Byakuya asked.

"the younger one. The younger they are, the more unbridled their powers will be."

…..

It was evening the next day when Kagome and Itaru had returned to the feudal era and the gang headed off again in search of Naraku. They set up camp for the night and sat around a fire while Meimei was gatherinig daisies in the meadow nearby. Meimei stopped for a moment and stared at a daisy closely 'I wonder how mama and papa are. Are they safe? Of course they are! Mama and papa can do anything!'

The rest of the group were playing BS and Shippo seemed to be winning. Shippo grinned ecstatically.

"Three fives!" Shippo said.

"Bullshit!" Sango called

Shippo turned over the cards that Sango claimed to be false. But it was just as Shippo claimed them to be.

"Aww man!" Sango groaned.

"I WIN!" Shippo cheered.

"Sango, what's wrong? You're losing to Shippo!" Miroku sneered

"Nothing is wrong! Im just not on top of my game today!" Sango said defensively.

"wow Kagome, this game is fun!" Itaru said.

"I know! me and my friends back home play it all the time!" Kagome turned to the pot that was starting to boil over and spooned out some instant noodles.

"Aww yeah! Ninja food!" Inuyasha's eyes flashed with excitement. Kagome noticed that his eyes were growing darker and his hair was bleeding black. The furry triangular ears were replaced by rounded human ears on the sides of his head.

'oh yeah, it is the night of the new moon, isn't it?' kagome thought as she looked up at the dark sky. 'But what about Itaru and Meimei?' she looked over to Itaru and saw the same thing had taken place. Except for the fact that his hair was already black, his dog ears and amber eyes had changed to more human-like features.

She looked over to the meadow where Meimei still was and didn't pick up the bright white that would normally sit atop of her head.

"Meimei! Dinner is ready whenever you want it! don't go too far okay?" Kagome shouted to the little girl.

"Okay!" Meimei called back. Meimei wasn't quite hungry yet, so she continued to pick daisies in the meadow. She stopped to look at the stars and sighed. "I wonder when Itaru will get the tetsusaiga. I really want to go home."

"You know something I haven't had in a really long time? Nizakana*, that was my mother's specialty! Ahh I can just taste it now!" Sango sighed.

"I know what you mean. What im craving is some zosui*. I get it every chance I come across some." Miroku added.

"I wish I had gyudon*!" Shippo chimed.

"I wish I had some hamburgers right about now!" Kagome said

"a what?" the group said.

"a ham-booger? That sounds gross! Shippo said sticking his tongue out.

"No! it's not what you think! Its ground up beef meat that is made into a patty and then fried in a pan until it is brown. Then when it is done, it is topped with vegetables like onions, tomatoes, lettuce and cheese and put in between a bread bun! It really is delicious!" Kagome explained.

"Oh! That sounds really exotic! Ive never heard of to-mo-to before! I would like to give it a try if given a chance!" Sango said.

"Maybe I'll get you guys some sometime!" Kagome said with a smile.

"Thanks Kagome! You're the best!" Itaru said.

"I think we all know what Inuyasha wants. Its right in front of him." Miroku said.

"Come on, Inuyasha, there must be some other food that is your favorite!" Kagome prodded.

"Nope. Not really." Inuyasha said simply

"Don't you like dumplings?" Itaru said.

"Yeah I guess I do really like dum—h-hey! How did you know that!" Inuyasha shouted.

Realizing what he had just said, he quickly defended himself. "oh just lucky guess!" Inuyasha gave him a long hard stare and then turned back to his instant noodles.

"Yeah, I suppose that I do like dumplings…" Inuyasha mumbled.

_Flashback…_

"_Happy new year, Inuyasha! I hope you're hungry!" Inuyasha's mother Izayoi said._

"_Happy new year mother!" Inuyasha said, a bright smile plastering his little face. He sniffed the air, what he smelled made his smile even bigger "I smell dumplings! Is that for me, mother?"_

"_Just wait and see, little one!" said Izayoi. Inuyasha could smell the dumplings coming closer._

"_Kyra is bringing them! I hope she is in a good mood today!" Inuyasha said. Izayoi frowned, she knew that she would never be in a good mood as long as Inuyasha was around. The truth was, she hated Inuyasha. Which wasn't an uncommon thing at the mansion they lived in. Inuyasha was a bright and sweet little boy, she did all that she could to shelter his warm spirit from the cold-hearted courtiers. She always gave the excuse that they were in a bad mood. But Inuyasha was a smart little boy, he would learn sooner or later that they simply hated him and his mother. The scent of the dumplings stopped in front of the door where a shadow behind the shoji screen stopped as well. The servant woman who was in her late 20's came in with a blank face and with two plates with mountains of dumplings. Kyra set the first plate in front of Izayoi and reached for the other plate. She prepared to put it in front of Inuyasha but tilted it, sending the little dumplings tumbling onto the tatami mat. _

"_My dumplings!" Inuyasha cried._

"_sorry." She said in a low voice._

"_That is quite alright, dear. We can just ask cook for more. I'm sure Kyra did it on accident."_

"_There are no more dumplings." Kyra said curtly. _

"_Oh well that is a shame! Inuyasha, you may share mine if you wish." Izayoi offered._

"_okay." Inuyasha said sadly._

_Kyra stood to walk away, and mumbled under her breath, "he is a dog isn't he? He can eat it off of the floor."_

"_Hey! I'm not a dog!" Inuyasha shouted. Izayoi knew that he heard what she did not. That was the only thing that he could not protect him against, the things that she could not hear. His hearing was leagues better than hers. What others thought that Izayoi could not hear, Inuyasha could. Izayoi stood up and went after Kyra. She shut the shoji, but knew that would not keep Inuyasha from hearing what they were saying._

"_Kyra, that was unacceptable! I will not have you deliberately mistreating my son, half demon or not! My son is just as good as my brothers or sisters, and I will demand that he be treated as such!" Izayoi lectured. _

_Iit is not my place to contradict thee, my lady." Kyra said._

"_Contradict me?" Izayoi slapped Kyra in the face angrily. "how dare you, you insolent wench! I demand an apology!"_

"_She is sorry, my lady." A voice said._

"_Hachimaru!"_

"_Leave us, Kyra." Hachimaru said. Kyra stalked away leaving Izayoi and Hachimaru alone._

"_Hachimaru, what she did was disgraceful! I'm sure she would not have done that to your son without at least asking for forgiveness!"_

"_I am sorry, my lady. But with your son, this kind of behavior should be expected. Even from the lowliest of servants." Hachimaru said plainly._

_End of flashback…_

"Inuyasha? Earth to Inuyasha! Are you in there?" Shippo said standing in front of him, waving his hand over his face.

Inuyasha was called out his reverie, "huh? What do you want runt?"

"We just wanted to know if you wanted seconds. Kagome saved you some in case you did." Shippo said.

Inuyasha looked to see that everyone was looking at him. "whats up, Inuyasha? You only look like that when you're deep in thought. What were you thinking about?" Kagome asked.

"Hmph, just something that happened a long time ago." Inuyasha mumbled.

Kagome knew better. Inuyasha was remembering something unpleasant. 'was it the dumplings that made him remember something bad?'

…

Deep in the forest nearby, Kohaku and Kikyo making their way silently through the thick foliage.

"Lady Kikyo, do you know where we are going?" Kohaku said.

"Yes, Kohaku. I know where I am going. Naraku's presence is not very far from here. I must catch him this time, or else he will escape with the shikon no tama and complete it. then it will be nearly impossible to stop him."

"Yes lady Kikyo. But if Naraku does complete the jewel, what will become of me?" kohaku asked. Kikyo remained silent on the matter. Kikyo looked through the trees to a clearing where she saw seven people sitting by a fire.

"Lady Kikyo! Isnt that my sister and her friends? But there are two more with them, who could they be?"

Kikyo did not answer but stared hard at the two children. 'who are those children? And why do they…look like Inuyasha?' Kikyo thought. She looked over and spotted Inuyasha as a human. 'oh Inuyasha. If only Naraku had not deceived us, you would be in my arms looking as you do now. You look so handsome.' Kikyo thought. 'but apparently, that is not to be…'

"let's go another way, Kohaku. I don't want to see Inuyasha at the moment." Kikyou said cooly.

"Umm alright…" Kohaku said. He paused to look back at his sister. Her smile sent a painful pang through his heart.

'Sister…'

…..

"Well, I'm turning in! Goodnight all!" Kagome said, tucking herself into her sleeping bag with Shippo snuggling close to her. "hey Meimei, its nice and warm in here, you want to join us?" Kagome offered.

"No thank you. I'm okay right here." Meimei leaned her head against her big brother's shoulder and closed her little eyes. Itaru took off his green kimono and draped it across his little sister. The rest of the group said their goodnights and went off to their respective corners. Itaru and Inuyasha were the only ones still awake after an hour or so.

"Hey kid, why don't you go on to sleep?" Inuyasha mumbled.

"I can't sleep." Itaru said.

"Scared?"

"Aren't you?"

There was a moments silence between them.

"My father said that its okay to be scared, just don't let anyone see it. I have to be brave for Meimei. if she sees me scared, then she will lose hope; I have to keep her smiling."

Inuyasha nodded and looked away. "You're a really good brother. Your father would be proud of you." Inuyasha said shortly.

Itaru's heart warmed at his kind comment. 'If only you knew…' Meimei stirred and moaned, waking up from her dreamless sleep.

"Sorry Meimei. Did I wake you?"

No, I just need to relieve myself." She said getting up. She went into the forest quietly stepping over her sleeping companions. The forest grew darker and darker as she moved farther and farther away from the camp. When she was a decent distance away, she was relieved and sighed. Suddenly, she looked up and saw a strange serpent-like creature carrying an orb of light. "I wonder what that could be?" she reached for her chakrams, just in case she should come across an enemy. She followed the flying creature deep into the forest until it came and stopped in front of a tree. There materialized a pale woman dressed in priestesses clothing. Her hair was long and flowing, her face was neutral and calm. The woman reached for the orb of light and put it to her chest. The light was absorbed into her body, and the creature flew away, assuming to get more of the light.

'What is she? And what are those orbs of light…? Is she a demon? I have to tell Inuyasha and the others!' she backed away to escape, but tripped over a fallen branch, causing her to drop her chakrams with a loud clanging noise.

"Who is there? Show yourself!" the woman called. Meimei turned to run away, but the serpentine creatures caught her legs. They dragged her in front of the woman who looked down at her with a frighteningly cool stare.

Back at camp, Itaru sat and waited for Meimei to come back. 'where is she? She should have been back by now!' Itaru thought. He looked up and saw Inuyasha sound asleep, with Tetsusaiga at his side. Itaru smiled to himself. 'he left Tetsusaiga unguarded! I guess this is a good a time as ever. Itaru quietly reached towards the Tetsusaiga's sheath, careful not to make a sound. 'he doesn't have his demonic power right now, but he is really alert nonetheless.' Inuyasha stirred in his sleep, causing Itaru to retract his hand. When Inuyasha settled down again, he went after the tetsusaiga again. When he grasped it, it pulsated. 'you recognize me, don't you tetsusaiga?' Itaru thought warmly. He carefully stood up and ran into the forest. Now to find Meimei and blow this joint!'

Okay, I think my poo brain is gone =] good chapter, eh? I was going to make this one long chapter, buut I thought I would make it up to you guys by giving you two chapters. The next one is pretty sweet!

And I just want to say, thanks you guys for the reviews. They really do make my day. It gives me motivation to go on, it really does. Im not going to do a review quota, that would be cruel. But let me know what you think! I really appreciate them.

Nizakana: fish poached in sweet soy

Zosui: a soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavoured with miso or soy. Known as juushii in Okinawa. Some similarity to risotto and Kayu though Zosui uses cooked rice, as the difference is that kayu is made from raw rice.

Gyudon: donburi topped with seasoned beef


	14. Chapter 14:itaru and the abducted meimei

Inuyasha regashi

Itaru and the Abducted Meimei

Hahaha! Two chapters back to back! Making up for the time I wasted doing nothing.

"Meimei! Meimei! Where are you? I thought you said you were going to go pee! " Itaru called. Ahead of him, he saw a serpentine creature floating throught the air with an orb of light. 'a demon! I have to find Meimei before she gets into trouble!' "Meimei! Where are you! Meimei!"

"what is your name, little girl?" The priestess said. Meimei could not find the words to speak, she shook in fear of the woman standing in front of her.

"have no fear child, I will not harm you. Just tell me your name and where you come from and I will let you go." The priestess assured.

"why do you want to know my name?" Meimei asked. The priestess stared at her, expecting an answer.

"my name is Meimei, and that's all im going to tell you!" Meimei said stubbornly. The priestess giggled. "you're just like him, in every way."

"just like who?" she shouted, getting annoyed, despite her fear."you'd better let me go! Or you'll be sorry! Ill tell Inuyasha to beat you up!" Meimei threatened.

"I doubt it little one. Inuyasha and I are old acquaintances." The priestess said. suddenly they heard footsteps coming in their direction. "Meimei!" Itaru broke through the bushes and before the priestess and Meimei. "Itaru! You came!"

"I thought you said you were going to go pee, not get yourself in trouble!" Itaru scolded.

"shut up! Oh! You got tetsusaiga!" Meimei said.

"yeah I did, and now we can go home!"

"what business have you with tetsusaiga?" the priestess said.

"who the hell are you! And what—wait a minute…" Itaru took a closer look at the priestess and suddenly realized who she was. "are…are you miss Kikyo?"

"yes. My name is Kikyo. Your father told you about me, did he?" she walked closer to Itaru, her soul collectors dragging Meimei "hey! Put me down!"

"no, actually, our mother told us about you…" Itaru said. Kikyo stood in front of him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "your mother, eh? That makes you practically mine."

Itaru blushed furiously at the brazen gesture and Meimei gagged in disgust. Itaru brushed her hands away from him, "Back off! What my father did with you has nothing to do with us, so leave us alone!"

"I came to ask you, what business have you here in this dimension? And why do you have the tetsusaiga?" Kikyo asked.

"why do you want to know?"

"answer my question."

"its none of your business!"

"did you come through the well, too?"

Itaru froze. There was no way that Kikyo was going to let him off easy. "so what if we did?"

"does Inuyasha know who you are?"

"so what if he doesn't?"

"im going to ask you one more time, why are you here in this dimension? You do not belong here, just as your mother doesn't." Kikyo said.

"who asked you for your opinion?" Itaru spat.

Suddenly, a great wind blew over them, sending them to their knees. Above them appeared a man on a paper origami crane.

"Byakuya of the illusion!"

….

Inuyasha woke up to a sound in the forest and looked around to see Meimei and Itaru gone. 'Meimei and Itaru are gone. Where could they be?' he reached for his tetsusaiga, only to grasp air. 'my tetsusaiga! Where is it?' "Itaru? Meimei? Hey where are you?" he roused the rest of the group, who croaked and groaned with fatigue. "what is it Inuyasha? Is something wrong?"

"Meimei and Itaru are gone, and so is the tetsusaiga!"

The group stood alert and fully awake. "the tetsusaiga? Do you think that they are in any danger?" sango asked.

"I don't know, but I need to get my tetsusaiga back!" Inuyasha said, running into the forest.

"Inuyasha! Wait for us! Kagome called.

"if they took the tetsusaiga because theyre in danger, we cant wait Kagome!"

"he is right. Inuyasha and I will go ahead." Miroku said.

The two ran into the forest and disappeared.

"I don't think that's what happened Kagome…" Shippo moaned.

"what do you mean, Shippo?" Kagome said.

"maybe I was dreaming, but I saw Itaru reaching for tetsusaiga all secret-like. If he were in any danger, he could of just asked us for help." Shippo said groggily.

"hmmm you're right Shippo. We'd better join the guys and see what is really going on." Sango said.

….

"oh hello there Kikyo. I didn't expect to see you here." Byakuya greeted.

"what are you doing here, Byakuya?" Kikyo said, drawing her bow and arrow.

"I didn't come here to fight you, Kikyo. I came for the girl." Byakuya said pointing to Meimei.

"for the girl? What business does Naraku have with her?" Kikyo asked.

"both of those children hold the powers of both a strong demon and an equally strong priestess. When those powers combine, they create an amazing force that is to be reckoned with. Im sure you are aware of this."

"so Naraku wants to use Meimei and her brother and absorb their powers?" Kikyo said

"yup. And guess who he sent to fetch her?" Byakuya said. suddenly, large vines erupted from the ground, capturing Meimei, Kikyo and Itaru.

"grrrr let us go you bastard!" Itaru shouted.

"nah ah ah. No struggling, or the little girl gets choked." Byakuya threatened. To back up his threat, a vine closed around her neck causing Meimei to gasp.

"Meimei!"

"see? I told you. Now if you don't mind, I'll be off. " Byakuya said.

"Byakuya would have gotten away, but a chain scythe flew through the air and sliced open the vines, releasing the captured victims.

"lady Kikyo! Im sorry I was late!" kohaku said.

"Byakuya, is it? you messed with the wrong kid, today! Prepare to have your ass handed to you!" Itaru threatened. He drew Sutasaiga and the cracks in the blade grew white and swirled with purified spiritual energy. 'I cant let anything happen to Meimei now. We are so close to saving mother and father!'

'his sword is activating, even though he is human right now…'

"have my ass handed to me? please, the only thing that will be handed to me is that girl!" Byakuya said.

Byakuya summoned a giant blue ogre from the ground. Its eyes glowed a fierce red and bared its yellow fangs. It towered above the tall pine trees with its sharp, menacing horns while Byakuya stood beside it on his giant paper crane.

"This is great! I get to have some midnight exercise!" Itaru said.

"Me too!" Meimei echoed.

"Meimei! Run and hide, its you hes after!" Itaru warned.

"No way! Why do you get to have all the fun around here! Its not fair!" Meimei complained.

"Meimei! This isn't a game! Get away!' Itaru shouted

"No I won't!"

"While you two are bickering, this demon could be slain by now." Kikyo said cooly. 'just like your parents.'

Kikyo drew her arrow and shot right at the demon's head. The arrow pierced through byakuya's barrier, but was also absorbed.

'Damn him! He is putting up the same barrier that Naraku puts up! My sacred arrows are just getting absorbed!'

"Hahaha! Lady Kikyo, after all this time, did you really think that Naraku would leave him and me vulnerable to your sacred arrows?" byakuya said. the arrow reappeared in the barrier, the point pointing in her direction. The arrow was launched and was headed straight for Kikyo. "lady Kikyo!" Kohaku tackled her to get her out of harm's way.

"now is my chance! Adamant barrage!" Itaru cried. The metal of Itaru's sword broke into many diamond-like pieces and shot towards Byakuya's barrier. It went through the barrier and cut off his right arm.

"Damn you! How did you break through?" Byakuya hissed.

"Beats me, but with knowing that I can pierce through your barrier, you're done!" Itaru closed his eyes and lifted his fists in the air and gathered them to him in a pose.

"EXPLODIIIIIINNNNGGGGGGGG…ADAMANT BARRAGE!."

Byakuya felt the diamond blades inside the barrier gather demonic energy from him and the ogre "w-w-what's happening here?"

"IJIRI YA HAKAIIIIIIIIII*!" Itaru shouted.

The diamond projectiles inside of byakuya's barrier exploded and destroyed the ogre, but badly injuring Byakuya. "alright….i did it….!" panted, collapsing to the ground.

'Heh…sutasaiga saps too much of my energy when I'm human…'

'He collapsed. Perhaps the sword is too powerful for him to handle…

"YAAAY ITARU!" Meimei cheered. Unbeknownst to her, a large vine was headed her way. Kikyo sensed this, and turned to see just that. "MEIMEI! WATCH OUT!" but it was too late. The vine grabbed a hold of her, lifting her in the air screaming.

"ITARU HELP ME!"

"MEIMEI!"

Kohaku threw his scythe at the vine, but only to be deflected by another one. The vine dropped Meimei into the barrier and onto the paper crane.

"I can't….move!" Meimei grunted.

"Meimei! Hold on I'm coming!"

Kikyo just stared at the two. She heard voices in the forest, 'Inuyasha and his companions are coming this way…'

"Come Kohaku, Inuyasha approaches…"

"But lady Kikyo, are we just going to leave those two?" Kohaku protested.

"They are none of my concern." Kikyo said cooly.

"Oh…okay then."

Byakuya sped away on paper crane towards a rocky cliff.

"BYAKUYA!"

"See ya kid! Nice knowing you!" Byakuya said, his body in tatters.

"ITARUUU!" Meimei screeched.

"MEIMEI!" Itaru yelled. He ran as fast as his human legs could carry him. 'DAMMIT! Sunrise is still an hour away!if I were in my demon form, this would be a snap!'

Itaru watched as the edge of the cliff quickly approached, 'I have to catch them before Byakuya gets away!'

Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kagome had almost caught up with Itaru and Meimei.

"There they are! And Byakuya is there too!" Inuyasha said.

"Meimei!" they heard Itaru yell in the distance.

"Hey Inuyasha! I think that they are in trouble!" Sango said.

"Let's go then!"

Itaru gave his last ounce of strength to sprint after Meimei and her captor. "Meimei hold on I've got ya!" Itaru launched himself from the edge of the cliff towards them reaching his hand out.

"**MEIMEI!"**

"**ITARUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" **Byakuya ripped away at the last second, widening the gap between brother and sister.

"NO ITARUUUUUUUU NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Itaru felt as gravity pulled him down like a lead weight. He looked down to the lethal drop below and felt tears come to his eyes. 'no…this can't be the end of me…father…mother…Meimei…my family and friends…I'm going to perish here…I couldn't save you all…I'm so sorry…"

Time seemed to slow down as he fell from the sky into the rocky canyon below.

'Goodbye everyone…' he watched mournfully as his sister disappeared;

"OH NO! ITARU!" Kagome shouted, pointing at Itaru's falling body.

"Go Kilala!" Sango commanded. The little cat demon transformed and leapt into the air. Kilala caught Itaru by the sleeve and tossed him onto her back.

Kilala landed in front of the group and set him down. "Itaru! Itaru! Are you okay?" Kagome shouted.

"He's unconscious. Probably out of fear." Miroku said

"What was Byakuya doing here?" Inuyasha wondered.

"And where is Meimei?" Kagome asked frantically.

"We'd better find her soon, I have a feeling that Naraku is behind this…"

Inuyasha got up and walked towards where tetsusaiga had been dropped. 'what did Itaru want with my sword…?'Inuyasha thought. 'it doesn't make any sense. He has his own sword that is just as good, as much as I'd hate to admit it.' suddenly, he felt tetsusaiga pulsate; then, Inuyasha saw a blue light in the shape of a sword heading straight for him. It landed in front of Inuyasha and stuck itself into the ground. 'Itaru's sutasaiga…how did it get here?' then he felt the tetsusaiga shake violently, as did the sutasaiga. 'They're reacting to each other…what is going on here…?'

"It looks as if tetsusaiga called sutasaiga. Why do you think that is, Inuyasha?" Kagome said to him.

"How should I know? It just pulsated and then bam here it is!"

"That's quite perplexing. Tetsusaiga is like no other sword of its kind, having a will of its own and being able to protect its master. But it also is connected with its sister sword, tenseiga. When either one of them is near, they react to its presence. That is only because they were forged from the same fang: your father's fang…" Miroku explained.

"Which means…that if sutasaiga and tetsusaiga are reacting to each other, that must mean…" Sango began.

"There was another sword my old man left made from his fang?" Inuyasha said. an expression of shock crossed Inuyasha's face. 'this doesn't make sense…neither Myoga, Totosai or that bastard Sesshomaru mentioned sutasaiga's name…but yet this kid has it…' Inuyasha looked at the unconscious boy, 'who is he…?

~*0*~

"Lady Kazuka! We are going in absolute circles! Are ye sure we are going the right way?" a small form said, perched on the shoulder of a young girl.

"Ryoga, what did I say about questioning me?" the little girl said coldly. "well ye did, but it is your father that put me in charge of thee while you are on this journey-

"My father isn't here, now is he?" the girl named Kazuka said curtly.

"….do ye wish for me to answer that….?" Said the one named Ryoga.

The girl Kazuka snatched the little person and squeezed her in between her fingers. "Now you listen here, you little tick youkai: my father is not here. The one doesn't know that he is, does not even know of our existence. So if you wish to live, you will do as I command."

"Yes miss! Anything ye say, m'lady! It is just that I am concerned for ye safety, especially now on your vulnerable night! If the great one finds out that anything happened to ye, my head will be sent flying!"

"This Kazuka does not need your worthless concern." Kazuka said flicking Ryoga away.

"Aye, m'lady…" 'sigh…she is her daddy's little girl…but even if she _is_ the princess of the western lands, that does not give her the right to treat me, her faithful handmaid, ryoga the tick, like an insect!' ryoga thought, staring at the little girl. The little girl was about seven years old, but had the wisdom of an adult. Her hair, at the moment, was jet black and styled in a delicately organized braid design that was reserved for princesses such as herself. Her triangular ears were black as well and adorned with little earrings. She wore a white mokomoko (*or the scientific term: fluffy) around her neck. Despite being a girl, she wore red and black armor and one shoulder pad. She wore a black and red kimono,tied with a striped obi belt that reached the bottom of her feet that were shod with little booties made with the finest silk. Last but not least, at her side was a delicately ornamented rapier* in a black sheath.

"m'lady, are ye anxious to see ye father at all?" Ryoga said, reclaiming her place on her shoulder.

"I did not come here for that, Ryoga. Remember our mission: to watch over my dear cousins to make sure they are alright and that they do not do anything stupid.

Now that was a good chapter! Yay! Speaking of chapters, im going to reload the chapter where they were in the weasel demon's inn. If you have noticed, where Shippo is on his caffeine high, there are just exclamation points, but he is saying something. So im going to try and remedy that. Until next time, that's all folks!

Ijiri ya hakai: crush and destroy

Rapier: a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks,


	15. Chapter 15:the mystery of the Sutasaiga

Inuyasha Regashi

The mystery of the sutasaiga

Hey you guys, I just realized that I made some serious boo boos in my story. You may or may not have noticed them but I will nonetheless mention them and fix them immediately. Problem #1: I rarely mention Kilala(rara) in this story. I am sorry to all the Kilala(rara) fans out there! I will promise to incorporate her more into the story. Problem #2: I just discovered, that the tick demon servant Ryoga's name is already taken by a Ranma's rival Ryoga from Ranma 1/2 . NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED AT ALL! DON'T SUE ME IM JUST A COLLEGE STUDENT. I was trying to find a name that rhymed with Myoga since kouga, shouga, hyouga and touga are already taken. Which brings me to Problem #3: I mentioned in an earlier chapter that Itaru and Meimei's uncle (I bet you can all guess who that is, but im not going to give it away ;3) had a son. But then I changed it to a girl. In the previous chapter. Im so sorry! I forgot that I had mentioned her/him earlier, and I just like the name Kazuka so much that I wanted to make it an important character! ( you guys know what I mean right?) problem #4: I was reading back on an earlier chapter and discovered that I said Kagura was with Naraku. And then I changed it to Byakuya…so I was like 'crap'! So I'm gonna fix that too,

Please bear with me you guys. This is my first fanfiction in a really super long time. If you find any more errors, I will fix them immediately.

Thanks for hanging in there you guys! 3 x100000

Now back to the story!

…

"lord Sesshomaru! What a hot evening it is! I'm sweating through my robes!" said Jaken, fanning himself.

Sesshomaru, Jaken and Rin were walking along a dirt path under the starry moonless night; Rin riding on Ah-Un was draped over them in fatigue. Sesshomaru seemed to show no concern for the temperature or humidity of the night. His one-track mind was solely focused on finding Naraku and taking his head.

"I agree with you, master Jaken! It is quite hot tonight! What I would do for a nice refreshing drink of water! Would you like some as well, master Jaken?"

"Foolish girl! I can go many weeks without food or water and be just as fit as a fiddle! I do not let such elementary urges such as thirst and hunger control me! And I am sure lord Sesshomaru can go a lot longer than a few weeks without drinking or eating a thing! And besides, we have no time to stop for water breaks! Lord Sesshomaru is busy trying to hunt down Naraku! You will just be wasting time! Right lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken said looking to his lord for approval.

"if you are thirsty, you may go get something to drink, Rin." Sesshomaru said simply.

"Yaay! Thank you my lord!" Rin said hopping off of Ah-Un and running away from the group.

'Why does he always take her side?' Jaken thought bitterly.

Rin jogged into the forest and found a bubbling brook full of life. The bullfrogs sang to each other, each having their own unique song. The many crickets in the bushes joined the bullfrogs in their music with their light, brisk chirping. The night was illuminated with many little fireflies dancing in the air.

'What a beautiful place!' Rin thought. She kneeled down and scooped a handful of the crystal clear water and sipped it up with a loud slurp. She sighed with a big 'ahhhh' at the refreshment of the water. She looked up into the starry night sky and pondered the life she led since Sesshomaru rescued her from certain death on more than one occasion. 'ever since I started traveling with lord Sesshomaru, things have been so interesting! I get to watch him slay mighty demons and everything! But what will happen after lord Sesshomaru kills Naraku? Will he let me stay with him? I do hope so! I do not know what I would do if I were to be banished from his presence! I do not think that after traveling with him that I would be able to return to a normal human village—not that I want to anyways. But master Jaken is always talking about how demons far outlive humans. Lord Sesshomaru said that he would not forget me when I die. But how long will he keep me with him?' Rin heaved a heavy sigh and sat down with her arms wrapped around her legs. She closed her eyes and imagined a life with Sesshomaru…then, faintly in the distance, she could hear voices on the other side of the brook. "look lady Kazuka! A brook!"

"I see it Roga." Another voice said in a steely annoyed tone. A figure shadowed by darkness stooped down at the bank across from Rin. Rin spied the figure across from her and concluded that it was a young girl not much older than she. Her skin was pale and her hair jet black. She appeared to be a princess. The girl's big but expressionless eyes stared down into the water and did not notice Rin on the other side.

'Who is she?' Rin thought. Rin sat and watched as the girl simply sat by the brook and stepped her feet into the brook. "Be of good cheer, m'lady! The sun comes forth! Look!" said the little voice from before. The girl looked toward the east where the mountains were outlined by the light's rays. The sky was a spectrum of black, purple, indigo, red, pink and yellow. The girl smiled as the dim light began to illuminate her face. "Good, I do not need to stay in this form."

When the sun's rays finally hit her face, she began to change; her hair bled from black to white, her eyes started to brighten, and her fingers seemed to grow thinner and her nails long.

"RIN! RIN! Rin YOU WRETCHED CHILD WHERE ARE YOU!" came a whiny, nasally voice from behind Rin. The girl looked up in sudden surprise. Rin looked behind her and saw Jaken and Sesshomaru looking for her. Sesshomaru's face was stoic as usual, but when his nose caught a slight whiff of a familiar scent, his expression changed to that of shocked confusion. He looked up to see the girl running away into the forest, her hair a mix of black and white. Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes in serious thought. "Oh there you are! What took you so long! We could have been well down the road if you had not—hey who is that?" Jaken complained.

"I do not know. I was just here to get a drink of water, when a strange girl came from the forest. I think she was a princess, lord Sesshomaru. But when the sun hit her face, she started to transform! Is she a half demon like Inuyasha?" Rin explained.

Sesshomaru did not answer. 'That girl…she had the same scent as I and…' he looked down at Rin who looked up at him, wondering what her great lord could be thinking of. 'How can that be?'

Sesshomaru turned around and left in the opposite direction. "lord Sesshomaru! Wait for us!" Jaken said. Rin lingered for a moment and looked at the spot where the girl stood not many moments ago. 'Who was that girl and why does lord Sesshomaru seem so strange right now?'

"RIN! WE ARE LEAVING!" yelled Jaken

"Coming!"

…

When Itaru woke up it was dark and hot. Sweat dripped down his brow heavily like tree sap. His vision was blurry and he could make out the faint silhouettes of two people standing over him.

'Ugghhhh….am i….dead? I must be in hell…it's so hot in here…' Itaru thought. He opened his eyes a little more and saw the two people more clearly. Over him was Inuyasha (back to his normal self) and Kagome. "hey! Hes come to!" Kagome said.

"mama? Papa? Is that you?" Itaru whispered hoarsely.

"it's not your ma and pa Itarur

, its Inuyasha and Kagome!" Shippo said jumping on his chest.

"sh-sh-Shippo… why are you so small? Have you transformed?" Itaru croaked.

"No, im always this small!" Shippo said.

"But, you are…" then Itaru remembered everything; He was still in the past.

"You gave us quite a scare, Itaru! We thought that you were gone for sure!" Shippo said.

"Oh yeah, that's right… I fell down a cliff trying to save Meimei…Meimei? You guys! We have to go save Meimei! Some guy named Byakuya took her! He said something about our demonic and spiritual powers being a terrible force and stuff…you have to help me!"

"Byakuya, was it? That's all I need to know. We'll get her back, don't you worry!" Inuyasha declared, clutching his tetsusaiga. Itaru stared at the phantom sword and looked down. 'Dammit! I was so close in getting the tetsusaiga! If only Kikyo and that bastard Byakuya not have interfered, we would be back by now!' Itaru pulled out the magic leaves from his pocket and hid them under his blanket. The leaf was now half brown and withered. ' I have to get tetsusaiga! That and Meimei. Nothing else matters at this point!'

"But before we go, we need to ask you a few questions…" Miroku interjected.

"Umm sure…go ahead?" Itaru said.

"Why were you out with the tetsusaiga last night when you and Meimei were attacked? If you were in any danger, all you had to do was say the word. Why did you not wake us up?" Miroku inquired.

Itaru looked at his hands and searched for an excuse that would pass their approval.

"Well…its because…because…Inuyasha was in his human form….and...well…I thought it might as well be me, because the rest of you guys are pretty useless…" Itaru said. he knew that that comment would earn him a few good whacks on the head.

"Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kagome stared him down with murder in their eyes.

"Do you think that this hand of mine is useless? Well let me show you how useless it is….!" Miroku hissed, starting to unwrap the wind tunnel.

"Oh, do you think they call me an expert demon slayer for the hell of it? They don't keep me 'cause im gorgeous, they keep me here because I can kick ass now and ask questions later." Sango said with the same intensity.

" I may look useless, but believe me you little twerp besides Kikyo, naraku is afraid of _me_" Kagome growled.

"Grrr! I'm a fox demon! Fear me!" Shippo said transformed into his little ball form.

"you guys know it's true…." Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha. Shut up and sit!" Kagome commanded.

WHACK

"No offense to any of you that's what was going through my mind at the moment…" Itaru breathed nervously.

"And our second question is, when Inuyasha picked up the tetsusaiga, it called your sutasaiga and started to shake. The tetsusagia and the tenseiga are forged from the same fang and are the only swords known to do that when they are near each other. Why is it that your sword reacted like theirs? Can It be that your sword was forged from the same fang as yours?"

"ummmm….I don't know…all I know is that my father gave it to me and that it was forged by some guy named Totosai!" Itaru said 'oh no! They're gonna figure it out sooner or later!'

"Where did Totosai get the fang to forge this sword?" Inuyasha demanded

"I told you! I don't know !"

"you're lying!" Inuyasha said grabbing a hold of his collar.

"Inuyasha put him down!" Kagome pleaded. "We need to focus on finding Meimei!"

"I'm not gonna let up until I get some answers!"

"Kagome is right we need to find Meimei and thwart whatever naraku is planning!" Sango said.

"I said I'm not letting up until I get some answers!"

"he told you, Inuyasha! He doesn't know!" Kagome said.

"he cant fool me! I can tell when someone is lying right through their teeth!" Inuyasha hissed.

Itaru stared back at Inuyasha, eyes wide with fear. But then he dropped him back on his futon. "im gonna figure you out, kid. And when I do, I'm not going to go easy on you!" Inuyasha stood and turned to leave. "im watching you." With that Inuyasha exited the hut. A second later, Kaede entered the hut with a slightly confused expression on her face. "I just spied Inuyasha storming from my hut. Is something the matter?"

"Oh he's just mad cause thing won't go his way; You know, the usual." Kagome explained.

"we were trying to figure out the mystery of Itaru's sutasaiga. It reacts to the tetsusaiga much like the tenseiga does. And when Inuyasha picked up his tetsusaiga last night, it seemed to be calling it. we think that perhaps sutasaiga was forged from the same fang as tetsusaiga and tenseiga." Miroku explained

"do ye mean to tell me that the same fang that was used to create the swords of Inuyasha and his brother Sesshomaru is also the same fang that created Itaru's sword?" Kaede said incredulously.

"this is only a conjecture. We do not know for sure. But it seems very likely." Miroku continued.

"but there has only been legends of the tenseiga and tetsusaiga. I have never heard of the sutasaiga! Could it be that Inuyasha's father had a third additional sword forged from his fang: A secret sword?" Kaede said.

"and why would it fall into the hands of Itaru…unless…" Miroku thought aloud. They all stared at Itaru inquisitively.

"what are you looking at me for?"said Itaru.

"could it be that you are Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's brother?" Miroku asked

"a lost brother? How can that be?" Kagome said.

"perhaps Inuyasha's father had more than one mistress." Kaede said.

'I guess that's where the two-timing comes from…' Kagome thought

"Tell us, what is your father's name?" Kaede said.

"uhhh….why does that matter?"

"if you are a long lost brother from Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, Sesshomaru would be enraged to know that another one of his father's sword did not go to him. Perhaps it would be better if you and you sister stayed with us." Sango said.

"But what about Meimei? She is too young to possibly be his biological brother!" Shippo said.

"good point, Shippo. Itaru looks to be the same age as Inuyasha, so that would make some sense. But Meimei is younger and Inuyasha's father died 200 years ago…this is all so perplexing." Miroku said

Itaru simply sat in silence while the others discussed the mystery of him and the sutasaiga. 'What am I going to do? If they tell Inuyasha that I am his long lost brother, who knows how he will react! But that's nothing if Sesshomaru believes it! my lies are going to catch up to me, I have to get out of here!'

….

_Somewhere in an unknown cave in the mountains._

"Hey! I'm back!" Byakuya announced as he dropped Meimei onto the hard rock floor.

"oooof!" Meimei grunted.

"Good work Byakuya." Naraku said. before the little girl was a floating head of a man with long, stringy black hair inside of a purple orb barrier. he stared down at the little girl with his small red eyes that screamed pure evil. Meimei trembled for a moment but then gathered her courage and stood up to him "what do you want with me?" Meimei said, clutching her chakrams.

"you possess the powers of a strong demon and an equally strong priestess. I have never heard of a demon priestess before. But there is always a first time for everything…" 'And I intend on taking advantage of the chance meeting one!'

"I don't know what you're talking about! I'm not a priestess, I'm a half demon!" Meimei shouted.

"a half demon you say? Well, it just so happens that I am a half demon as well…" Naraku snickered.

"Really?" Meimei said, slightly lowering her guard." don't you want to become a full-fledged demon? Don't you want to become more powerful?" Naraku suggested. "Well, I've come to accept who I am, and embrace the two sides of my soul. I don't really want to become more powerful, because I know that if I keep training, I will become powerful!"

"But that's easy for you to say, you have an amazing source of spiritual powers. I could only wish for something like that. Tell me, little one, is one of your parents a priest or priestess?"

"Well…yeah…but what business is that of yours?" Meimei shouted.

"Oh I was just curious. Gee, it would really be nice to be as powerful as you. If only….." Naraku trailed off.

"i-i-if only w-what?" Meimei said. 'yes, I've got her now…she is more gullible than I first thought.'

"If only I had more shards of the sacred jewel…I would be powerful too, and be able to defend myself. It is a hard and dangerous life, we hanyous live. We must fight each and every moment just to see another sunrise. Because demons despise us and humans fear us. it is a tragic existence we lead, do you not agree?"

"Well yeah…but that's okay! As long as we have good friends to stick by us, we can face any obstacle!" Meimei said reassuringly.

"But I do not have friends like you. I live here all alone just because I am a hanyou…" Naraku said smoothly.

"Then what am I supposed to be?" Byakuya said.

"Well…well… I'll be your friend!" Meimei offered. Naraku snickered to himself. 'Yes, we shall be good friends…and good friends always share…'

"Oh I don't want to force you! Don't think that you are obliged to me." Naraku said politely.

"That's what you brought me here for, isn't it? I'll be your friend! Don't you worry! We'll play games and go on awesome adventures and everything!" Meimei said, running around naraku's barrier. "whadaya say?"

"I would like that very much." Naraku said.

"Friends?" Meimei said reaching her hand out. Naraku formed a hand of flesh and extended it outside of his barrier. But on the hand there was a thorn in the palm of it.

"Friends." The two shook on it, but Meimei pulled away and winced. "ouch! What was that?"

"oh I am terribly sorry, one of my quills must have come out."

"ouch that really smarts! But I know you're sorry! So what kind of adventure are we going to have first?"

"There is someone that stole something very precious from me. His name is koga, he is a wolf demon and he is very fast. There are two shards of the sacred jewel in his legs that give him speed. But he took them away from me a while back. He is a vile, disgusting creature. I must have them back."

"What a meanie! I'll get them back for you!" Meimei declared.

"Byakuya, please see to it that she gets there safely." Naraku ordered.

"Sure thing." Byakuya confirmed. Meimei and Byakuya started out the door, but Meimei hesitated. "Oh yeah, I don't think I got your name?"

"Oh. My sincerest apologies. You may call me Naraku."

"Naraku? Are you that same evil demon who Inuyasha and his friends are after?"

'Uh oh, the jig is up Naraku.' Byakuya thought.

"That is a common misconception. The Naraku you speak of has stolen my name and intends to tarnish it. That Naraku is a full blooded baboon demon, while I am only a half demon. Believe me, you can trust me."

"Oh, okay then. Well, let's go!" Meimei said running out of the cave.

….

"Koga! Wait up!" said Ginta.

"We can't run for much longer, boss! We need a break!" panted Hakkaku

The two were chasing a whirlwind just ahead of them, the whirl wind stopped and formed Koga the wolf demon. "I've seen turtles that can move faster than you idiots!"

"Those must have been some pretty fast turtles!" ginta said.

"Yeah, and ill bet it had the help of the shikon jewel as well!" hakkaku agreed.

"We can't be standing around like this, naraku is out there and im not going to sit around while you guys have a picnic!" koga shouted.

"But boss! We've been running nonstop for three whole days! Arent you tired too?" ginta said.

"Not at all! I could run for a whole week if it weren't for your useless asses!" koga said.

"Boss!" the two wolf demon henchmen said.

"Don't you 'boss' me! I'm going to take naraku's head, and when I do, I'm gonna marry Kagome and become the chief of the wolf demon tribe!"

…..

Inuyasha and the gang were headed in koga's direction, searching for Meimei. "This would be a lot easier if I could track her scent, but for some reason I can smell her at all!"

"Don't worry about it, I can track her. She and that Byakuya guy went in this direction."

"Do you really think that Naraku intends on absorbing Meimei?" Miroku said.

"But she's just a little kid! What use would Naraku have with her?" Shippo said.

"But Itaru mentioned that Meimei had exceptional spiritual powers for a hanyou. Perhaps Naraku intends on using her powers to protect himself like he used the saint Hakushin on mt. Hakurei?" Sango said.

"If that is his true intention, We need to speed it up if we hope to reach Meimei in time!" Miroku concluded.

'don't worry, sis! Im coming for you, just hang on!"

Yaaaaay! Good chapter! Reviews would be really nice!


	16. Chapter 16: the enemy is meimei

Inuyasha Regashi

The enemy is: Meimei

Story is starting to pick up steam you guys! Hold on!

"Okay, so where is this Koga guy?" Meimei said to Byakuya, riding beside him on his paper crane.

"He is just up ahead. Do you think you can take Koga on? He is a full blooded wolf demon, you know?"

"I know I can beat him! Even if I don't, I know I can probably get whatever Koga took from him!"

"If you say so…" Byakuya breathed 'Naraku plans to let Koga critically injure this girl, and then he will finish her off. But I wonder why he took a bit of her blood?' he thought, glancing at Meimei's hand. "hmm, that's funny, the wound has not healed…"

The two looked up ahead and saw a whirlwind going ahead of them. "a whirlwind?" Meimei wondered aloud

"That's him!" Byakuya said. Byakuya steered the paper crane to stop in front of the whirlwind where it came to an abrupt stop.

"Byakuya! Why the visit?" Koga hissed.

"oh you know, the usual: take your jewel shards and leave you for dead. No more no less." Byakuya explained. "If you hand them over right now, it will cut the time in half and you can live. Heheh"

"you know the answer to that: HELL NO!" Koga shouted.

"please mr. wolf man! let us have your jewel shards! Mr. Naraku, my dear friend really wants them back! I really don't want to hurt you!" Meimei pleaded.

"And who the hell are you supposed to be? are you another one of naraku's detachments? You don't smell like him?" 'as a matter of fact, I cant smell her at all…!" Koga shouted

"My name isn't important! Now give me the jewel shards or I will have to hurt you!" Meimei warned, drawing out her chakrams.

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAA! You? Hurt _ME_? What are you stupid? A rabbit is scarier than you!" Koga roared with laughter.

"HEY! THAT'S NOT FUNNY!" Meimei shouted. Byakuya snickered. "that was a good one…."

"hey! Whose side are you on?" Meimei said turning to Byakuya. "ugggh! You boys think you know everything! Ill show you!" Meimei charged at Koga with more speed than he expected. She tried to cut him but he evaded her attack in the nick of time.

"oh, so you're serious? Well then, I won't go easy on you cause you're a little girl!" Koga warned.

"STOP JUDGING ME BECAUSE IM A GIRL!" Meimei charged at Koga again, with more intensity than before. Koga could only dodge her attacks. 'wow, she is pretty fast!' Meimei came at him again and again and again. She slashed left then right, upwards and downwards. "fine then, if I can't touch you, ill let my weapons do the work!" Meimei landed with a back flip and threw her chakrams at Koga. The two circular blades whizzed throught the air. He ducked and they managed to miss him. "heh! Your aim is terrible! Kid you should really go back home and—" he was cut off by a slice to the face and one to the leg.

"GAAAAHHH! You little…!"

"I told you! Don't underestimate me because I'm a girl! I'm stronger than you think!" Meimei said, catching her chakrams.

"heh, just because you hit me once, you think you've won?" Koga said wiping his face.

"Well, at least it lets me know that you arent invincible!" Meimei said.

"heheh, yeah well, im enough to beat you!" Koga charged at Meimei, attempting to deliver a sucker punch to the little girl. But she was all too swift. She backflipped out of the way of his melee of attacks. Meimei tried to slash him, but he evaded her attack as well.

'Wow. She's pretty good—for a kid.' Byakuya said, idly standing by. Then, behind him, came familiar voices.

"Hey Koga!"

"Boss, where are you?"

Appearing behind him, was Ginta, Hakkaku and the wolves. "whoa! Koga! What are you doing?" Hakkaku asked.

"Why are you fighting a little girl? Isnt that a little low?" Ginta said.

"SHUDDUP! SHE CAME AFTER ME!" Koga spat. Meimei nearly cut him once more, but again it was evaded.

"why does she want to fight you?" Hakkaku asked.

"she's in cahoots with Naraku! She wants my shikon shards!" Koga said.

"how can a puny little girl like her possibly think that she can get your shikon shards?"

"yeah if you ask me, she couldn't hurt a fly." Ginta said.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Meimei shouted at them. This moment of distraction provided koga with an opportunity to punch Meimei in the gut. "LESSON NUMBER ONE: NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF YOUR OPPONENT!"

Meimei was in temporary shock over the pain of the blow. She slid back fifty feet away on all fours, but still mamaged to get up again. "what? That should have knocked you out!" Koga said confused.

"heh, I should've told you that I'm made of different stock. My father is a dog demon, and he is one of the strongest in this land. I'm not going to lose to a little mongrel like you!"

"dog demon, you say? No wonder why you're so weak!" Koga said. "you're just a pup! Why don't you go back home? I wonder why Naraku even wasted his time asking you to do his dirty work! He might as well send that half-wit Inuyasha to do it for him!"

"TO HELL WITH YOU!" Meimei shouted charging at him. Her body started to glow an eerie white glow. Koga sensed this and hesitated for a moment. 'wait, what is this? The aura around her isnt demonic like it was a moment ago, its….purified?' in that moment, Meimei was upon him and slashed him in the belly. Koga let out an agonizing cry as blood spurted out of his wound.

"KOGA!" the two wolf demons cried. Koga observed his wound closer and discovered that it was burning away. 'I'm—I'm—I'm being purified? By this little girl! What the hell is going on here?' Koga thought.

"heh! How do you like that?" Meimei said triumphantly.

"Don't get so cocky, kid. Just because you hit me in the abdomen, doesn't mean im not able to beat you down!" Koga said charging again at her. Meimei threw her chakrams at him once more, this time, the chakrams in a flash of light, multiplied into many disks of light. 'what the? They multiplied!' before he knew it, he was surrounded by them and they cut him all over. Blood flew everywhere as the disks continued to spin rapidly. Koga fell to his knees his face grimacing. "damn you, you little bitch!"

"okay, enough play time! Give the jewel shards and I won't have to hurt you anymore!" Meimei said.

"oh no! Koga is getting sliced and diced!" Ginta said

"Maybe she's not so wimpy after all! We need to get help—fast!" Hakkaku said.

"Let's go!" Ginta commanded.

The two wolf demons and their wolf companions ran away into the forest to look for help. Koga stayed kneeling grimacing at the pain in his wounds while Meimei stared him down.

….

The group was still running through the forest in search of Meimei. They had almost reached the middle of the forest when Itaru picked up Meimei's spiritual powers fluctuate.

"You guys! I can sense her! She's just up ahead!" Itaru announced.

"and that's not all, I smell blood—and that wimpy wolf!" Inuyasha said.

"  
"Koga is there too? You don't think…" Kagome began.

"If he lays a finger on her, I'm ripping his arm off and shoving it down his damn throat!" Inuyasha declared.

"I'm sure that he wouldn't harm a defenseless little girl like Meimei!" Miroku said.

"You don't know Meimei! She is impulsive and if she feels like she is in danger, she will try to protect herself. She may look really weak and harmless, but believe me, she is like a cat: you can poke fun at her all you want, but get on her bad side, its all over!" Itaru warned.

"I find that hard to believe. She is so sweet and gentle! She is more like a cute little kitten!" Shippo said.

"Well, if it turns out whoever she is fighting with is the one hurt, you'll think otherwise." Itaru reiterated.

"Inuyasha! Kagome! Help us!" came two voices headed their way.

"It's Ginta and Hakkaku!" said Kagome.

"You guys! You gotta help us! Koga is being beaten upby a little kid!"

"A little kid? They must mean Meimei!" Inuyasha said. "lead us to him!"

"Okay!" they both said.

…

Koga and Meimei were still battling it out, but Koga's movements were slower than usual. He was bleeding a lot faster then. Byakuya was still standing on the side, watching the scene before him 'wow, can this kid actually win? I don't think Naraku was expecting this!'

"I said you can give me the shikon jewel shards and I won't hurt you anymore! Why do you insist on fighting me?" Meimei said.

"because I'm not going to lose to a little runt like you, a half breed who doesn't know her place in the world!" he managed to punch her in the face and send her flying into a couple of trees. Meimei slowly got up and grinned, "what place? We all breathe the same air, walk on the same earth, drink the same water, what makes you think you're better than me?" Meimei charged again at a surprised Koga. 'how can she still have so much strength!"

"KOGA!" came a voice from the forest. 'them again…' thought Byakuya. 'and they brought Inuyasha and his group.'

"Oh, you're back. I thought you ran away. You sure are a bother." Byakuya said.

"Byakuya! What have you done with Meimei?" Inuyasha shouted.

"I didn't do anything to her." Byakuya said simply.

"it's obvious you did! Meimei wouldn't be fighting someone who she doesn't have anything against!" Inuyasha said.

"Oh its nothing. Naraku just asked her to do something for him. That's all. There is no need to make a fuss." Byakuya explained.

"Oh we're going to do more than fuss! In gonna rip your damn head off!" Inuyasha shouted. Koga turned to where Inuyasha and his group were. He spotted Kagome and rushed over to her side. "Kagome…lovely as ever. How have you been? I hope your dog hasn't been mistreating you…"

Both Inuyasha and Itaru growled and stood between Kagome and the wolf demon. "back off you!" Itaru commanded. "And who are you supposed to be? Another half breed pup?"

"What did you say?" Itaru said.

"Koga! What happened to you?" kagome asked. "That little pipsqueak over there is calling herself trying to fight me. But it's no matter. But if she tries to come after you, Kagome, ill put an end to her—"

"LESSON NUMBER ONE:NEVER TAKE YOUR EYES OFF OF YOUR OPPONENT!" shouted Meimei, kicking Koga in the face.

"You little….!"

"wait koga! Don't hurt her! She doesn't know what she is doing!" kagome pleaded.

"Kagome! Do you see what she did to me?" Koga said.

"she must have a good reason for doing this! Meimei, why are you trying to hurt Koga?"

"because, he stole something from my friend!" Meimei said.

"what? Your friend? Who is this friend of yours?" Inuyasha asked suspiciously.

"his name is Naraku, he is not who you think he is! He said that the Naraku you guys are looking for is a full blooded baboon demon, but he is a half demon just like me! all he wanted was a friend!"

"Meimei, you've got it all wrong! Naraku isn't concerned with being your friend, all he is concerned about is getting the shikon jewel completed! After he's done with you, he'll kill you!"

"What? You can't be serious!" Meimei said incredulously.

"it's true, Meimei! Believe me! he's the one that we are looking for " Itaru said winking.

"Is that true, Byakuya?" Meimei asked looking towards Byakuya.

"Well, I can't say it's not…" Byakuya said.

"you…you…you _tricked_ me?" Meimei hissed.

"Nah ah ah, I didn't trick you: Naraku did." Byakuya corrected. Meimei growled at him and lunged at his floating figure. "how dare you!"

Far away, Naraku was watching the whole ordeal. He looked at his hand and in it was a little paper doll. "I knew that this would come in handy sooner or later." He said to himself. The thorn in the palm of his hand sank back into his hand, with Meimei's blood on it. the blood reappeared on narakus finger as he wrote on the paper doll. "now, be a good girl and do my bidding. Kill Koga, Inuyasha and the rest of his group.

Meimei was almost upon Byakuya, chakrams drawn and ready for battle, until a stabbing pain gripped her heart. She fell back onto the ground screaming.

"MEIMEI!" yelled. He ran over to his little sister, but she jumped away. "Meimei? What is it, sis? Whats wrong? Tell me!" Itaru pleaded. Meimei hunched over, still gripping her chakrams. Her silver bangs were covering her eyes.

"sis?"

Suddenly her chakrams flew from her hands and multiplied into many shining disks.

"WHOA! EVERYBODY! DUCK!" Itaru yelled.

The disks whizzed through the air towards the group. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome; Miroku, Sango and Shippo jumped on Kilala's back and jumped away. Koga, not having enough time to dodge, kicked the disk away. "Whoa! That was a close one!" Inuyasha said.

"what's happened to Meimei?" Shippo said, fear visibly gripping him.

"Meimei is not herself—look!' Miroku said pointing to the little girl. She lifted up her eyes to reveal eyes glazed over and pupiless."

"It looks like she is under some sort of spell! My only guess is that Naraku is behind this!"

"BYAKUYA! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER!" Itaru sshouted.

"Oh me? I haven't done a thing. I'm just here to observe and make sure Meimei does what she was told to do." Byakuya said.

"What do you mean, supposed to do?" Itaru asked.

"You will see soon enough!" Byakuya summoned vines out of the ground , trying to entrap the others. Inuyasha drew the testsusaiga and slashed away at the gigantic vines. But when the vines were cut, a thick poison miasma spewed from them. Inuyasha and Kagome covered their mouths. "damn! A miasma!"

"Don't cut them, Inuyasha! Those vines are full of naraku's miasma!" Miroku shouted.

"Well thanks, Mr. obvious!" Inuyasha said cynically as he grabbed Kagome and jumped away.

"If the vines are full of miasma, how are we supposed to get rid of them?" Sango said.

"Don't worry! Maybe I can purify them!" Kagome said, drawing an arrow to her bow. She released the arrow in a beam of white light. The vine was disintegrated and so was the miasma.

"got it!"

"good work, Kagome! Just keep firing those arrows and we'll be rid of them!" Inuyasha said.

"I can't destroy them all, I only have five arrows left!" Kagome informed.

"WHAT?"

Kagome looked at her five arrows in her quiver. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

"Well, miasma or not, its destroy or be destroyed!" Koga said kicking the vines in half, which spewed more miasma.

"Dammit, you stupid wolf! We'll all suffocate if you keep that up!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Yes, that's it. keep fighting. You won't be able to withstand the miasma. And when I have you trapped, Meimei can do the rest!"

"Meimei, speak to me! Meimei! It's me, big brother!" pleaded Itaru. His only answer was a disk whizz towards him, which he easily dodged.

"Meimei! Stop it! I know this isnt you! You don't want to hurt anyone! Please stop!"

Meimei charged at her brother, posed to strike. Itaru whipped out Sutasaiga and held her off;They were deadlocked.

"Meimei! Come on! you're stronger than this! You can beat this Naraku! You can!" Meimei gave no response, just staring blankly at him with soulless eyes.

She leapt away from her brother and behind him and slashed at him. Itaru deflected her shot. "Meimei!"

"Yes…that's it. Kill your brother…that's exactly what the shikon jewel needs : anger, fear and despair. Yes. Kill them. _ Kill them all!"_

"Inuyasha! What are we going to do? We can't hurt Meimei and we can't even touch Byakuya!" Sango said.

"im trying to figure that out! Give me a minute, will you?" Inuyasha yelled, dodging another vine. "hye! Maybe my Wind Scar can work!" Inuyasha poised tetsusaiga in front of him. Demonic energy swirled around the blade as he raised the sword above his head. "WIND SCAR!" upon bringing the blade down to the ground, the vines disintegrated and so did the miasma. It continued toward Byakuya and surrounded him, seeming to engulf him

"You did it, Inuyasha!" Shippo cheered.

When the wind scar dispersed, Byakuya was still standing.

"Damn! I couldn't get him!" Inuyasha cursed. Suddenly, the vines emerged from the ground once again, engulfing him and stabbing him with razor sharp thorns.

"wh-wha-what is this?" Inuyasha shouted. He watched as the others were caught by the vines as well.

"aaaack! These thorns weren't here before!" Kagome screamed.

"hehehe. The more you try to destroy them, the more they evolve. If you keep destroying them, they will only evolve into demon plants that will devour you whole." Byakuya said.

"Meimei! Snap out of it! please! Everyone needs you!" Itaru tried as hard as he could to fight her off without hurting her.

Meimei tossed the chakrams and the disks of light again.

**"that's it…your friends will be cut into pieces by your own little sister's hand."**

The disks missed Itaru, but flew in the direction of Inuyasha and the others. "NOOOOO!"

They all screamed in pain as the disks sliced through them, blood flying in every direction.

'Meimei! You have to stop this, and it looks like im going to have to help you! Itaru charged at Meimei, ignoring the disks that whizzed towards him. For a tiny moment, Meimei regained her consciousness. She watched as her brother running at her with sutasaiga. 'wait, why has Itaru drawn the sutasaiga? Is something the matter? And why is he looking at me like that?'

Itaru leaped high into the air, sword raised and shouting a battle cry; suddenly, a big, thorny vine erupted out of the ground. It impaled Itaru in the abdomen, sending blood spurting from the wound. Itaru's eyes were wide in the shock of pain. In that instant, Meimei regained her consciousness, breaking the spell.

"_OH NO…..!"_

"ITARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Kagome screamed.

The Sutasaiga landed blade down in the dirt, the vine ripped itself violently out of Itaru's body; he dropped to the ground as if dead.

"NO! ITARU!" Meimei cried.

"heheh, this worked out perfectly. Thanks kid for your help! I'm sure Naraku will appreciate it! now get those shikon jewel shards!" Byakuya commanded.

Meimei stood there in shock of what just happened. She stared at her brother's lifeless body. Her mind tried to grasp the fact that her brother had been killed right before her very eyes; that Naraku tricked her into fighting Koga when he was the good guy. All she could feel was nothing. But then she felt a new feeling:

Rage.

"hey! Hurry up! I don't have all day here! Lets get Koga's jewel shards and get out of here!"

Suddenly, from inside the forest, an arrow was shot. It pierced the barrier and parts of it shattered.

"what the…?" Byakuya said.

**"hmm that pesky priestess again."**

"damn her! That could have killed me—" Byakuya sensed an intense concentration of demonic energy in Meimei's direction.

"what?"

"hey! Look at the girl!" Hakkaku said.

"shes radiating a tremendous amount of demonic energy!" said Ginta.

"whoa! Im sensing an enormous amount of demonic energy!" Miroku said wincing at his cuts.

"its coming from Meimei!" Kagome said.

"you insufferable, mother fucking bastard. You kidnapped me and brought me to that Naraku, he takes over mind and make me hurt my friends and my family…." Meimei growled.

The aura around Meimei intensified.

"oh no, whats going on?" Sango said.

"**I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOUUUUUUU!"**

A massive explosion of heat erupted from the small girl. It burned almost everything in its wake.

"THIS HEAT!" Miroku exclaimed.

"ITS PURE DEMONIC ENERGY!" said Inuyasha.

The rest of the group screamed in the intense heat. Byakuya shielded himself from the blinding light. "Wha-whats happening!"

What followed the intense heat was even worse than the heat itself. Pure energy and light. Purified energy that pierced through byakuya's barrier. The light punctured holes in him and pulverized his body. When it hit Shippo, Kilala, Koga, Ginta and Hakkaku, they all screeched in pain of the purifying light. Hitting Inuyasha's body, he reverted to his human form; his demonic features disintegrating in a flurry of sparkles.

Itaru woke up to the noise and saw before him, his little sister engulfed in an unearthly light. Her eyes were blank as she screeched a blood curdling scream. The hair ties that held her hair together burned away, releasing the long silvery locks of hair into the vortex of energy. Itaru struggled to get up and ran toward his little sister in attempt to stop her.

"**MEIMEI!"**

The hair tie that held his hair in the small ponytail burned as well, his ebony strands blowing straight behind him. His demonic features disappeared as well. He tackled his little sister and used his own spiritual powers to bring her down. There was an additional explosion that emitted a blue light. The gang screamed even more and the vines that held them were destroyed. Koga and the wolf demon tribe were blown away. The rest of the group was blown into the forest, Inuyasha at the last moment grabbed onto a tree branch and caught Kagome and Shippo as well. Miroku and Sango did the same, holding on for dear life for the explosion to subside.

When the blast finally did subside, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome climbed down from the trees. They surveyed the damage in the wake of the blast. Trees were flattened and grass was nonexistent. There was a gigantic crater where the brunt of the explosion was. In the middle, was Itaru and Meimei on the ground atop of each other.

"NO!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Meimei! Itaru!" Kagome cried. They ran towards the two unconscious children, Sango holding Shippo and Kilala who were also unconscious. Kagome bent down to check the two children. Their clothes were torn and there was blood soaking through Itaru's clothes. Kagome checked their pulses, while Miroku looked around them in awe. 'such power….from such a young girl! How could this be?'

'Everything is destroyed. My body has returned to its human form. And Shippo and Kilala are unconscious! Could this be what Naraku was after all along?' Inuyasha thought.

'I've never seen anything like this before! How in the world could a half demon child create such a blow?' Sango thought. She looked up to the sky. 'Well, Byakuya is gone. And I'm sure that Naraku has felt it too.'

"you guys…!" Kagome began. The three adults looked her way. "They're…they're not breathing!"

….

Deep in naraku's lair, he watched the scene unfold before him, still holding the little paper doll scribbled with Meimei's blood. 'Excellent, this power will be mine and Inuyasha nor Sesshomaru nor _Kikyo_ will be able to stop me!' suddenly, the blood scribbles on the paper doll glowed red, then white. The paper doll burned to nothing, leaving Naraku confused. Naraku's body was ripped to shreds inside of his barrier and left only his head floating.

'What the-!'

Byakuya appeared in front of him in bits and pieces. Byakuya stared right at him saying, "sorry Naraku. She's dumb, but she sure isn't weak!"

OH YEAH BABY! WOOOOOOO! I GOT AN ADRENALINE RUSH WRITING THAT ONE! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!


	17. Chapter 17: the lullaby and the night

Inuyasha Regashi

The lullaby and the night.

_The sun was shining brightly in the afternoon sky. Larks chirped happily and squirrels scurried here and there. Itaru sat in the sacred tree, napping contently but still acutely aware. The air was so clean and fresh. He could hear a nearby creek streaming down the slope of the countryside. He listened to the village that bustled with activity. Markets were open, men were working the fields, women were tending to their children and their chores and the children tended to themselves in their games._

_Nothing that Itaru could think of could interrupt such a beautiful, tranquil day. Even in these warring states, there were times when even the warlords would take a rest and put their minds at ease. Itaru could hear something approaching him in the forest. He perked up his ears and sniffed the air discreetly. It was his father._

"_Itaru!"_

_He sat up on his perch in the tree and looked down at his father, who was holding a familiar sword in his hands._

"_Hey pa!"_

_Itaru jumped down in front of his father and reached out for the sword. "Did Totosai fix it?" Itaru said._

"_Yeah, he did. Now it will work even when you are human." Itaru's father said._

"_That's so cool! This is great, pa! I can't wait to try it!"_

"_Well you won't need to. I thought perhaps we could continue where we left off."_

"_Oh yeah, we were training when uncle asked you to help him in another war."_

"_i just hope you haven't forgotten anything while I was gone!" Itaru's father said, drawing his sword._

"_Oh no! I haven't forgotten a thing! If mother hasn't told you already, I've been training with uncle and godfather all while you were gone!"_

"_well, actions will speak louder than your words!" Itaru's father said, charging at his son, posed to strike._

_Itaru blocked his father's attack and shoved it away._

"_Hey son, perhaps I'll tell you this later, but you have something that I don't; something that can easily defeat me!"_

"_Really?" Itaru said excitedly._

_Itaru's father took his son's distraction at his praise as an opportunity to strike him again. His sword came in contact with him and slammed him into a tree._

"_Remember, son: never take an enemy's flattery seriously. Most of the time, its to stroke your ego so your head will become inflated. And when you get too cocky, that's when you get sloppy. Pride always comes before a fall." Itaru's father instructed._

"_So you mean…there is no secret ability that I have and you don't?" Itaru said, picking himself up._

"_Oh there is, but I took that as a learning opportunity so you wouldn't forget it next time. Like I said, I will tell you later." Itaru's father said._

"_Oh…."_

_Not far away, Meimei and her mother were picking herbs in the meadow nearby. Meimei held the basket for her mother to put the herbs in. Meimei watched carefully and imprinted every smell and sight of the plants._

"_And this is good for indigestion!" Meimei's mother said, placing the leafy plant into the basket._

"_Mama, how did you learn all of these plants and their uses?" Meimei asked._

"_Well the old priestess that was here before me taught me; And our good friend Jinenji. Do you remember him?"_

"_Hmmm…oh! You mean the big demon with the big eyes?" Meimei asked._

"_That's the one!" Meimei's mother confirmed._

"_You sure do know a lot of stuff. Like that complicated arithmetic stuff. Did the old priestess teach you that too?"_

"_Oh no! I learned all that back home! It took me many years to learn all of that, I had to be tutored for almost thirteen years of my life."_

"_Thirteen years of being tutored? How could you stand it!" _

"_It's a custom where I come from. All of the children were expected to get an education."_

"_Wow, you must have been a princess!" _

"_Oh no, not a princess. I was just an ordinary girl."_

"_Hmmm…." Meimei watched as her beautiful mother picked the plants one by one. 'Wow, mama sure is pretty. I hope that someday, I can be as pretty and as smart as her…" _

_Itaru was still training with his father until suddenly everything around him turned black. He watched as his father disappeared before him. _

"_WAIT…WAIT! WHATS HAPPENING! WHERE DID MY FATHER GO?"_

_The landscape reappeared, not as the tranquil peace that it was, instead it was the village engulfed in a feral inferno. He watched his mother and father run ahead of him deeper into the burning village. "RUN, ITARU, RUN!" Itaru's father shouted. _

"_WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING! WHATS GOING ON?"_

"_ITARU! PLEASE! GET AWAY FROM HERE!" Itaru's mother screamed._

"_TELL ME WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"_

"_THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN! YOU NEED TO GO NOW! Itaru's mother exclaimed._

" _BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?"_

"_ITARU! STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND –"_

_Itaru's father was cut off by a slashing sound. His father's face drew to a blank as a red line appeared on his neck. His head flew off and his wife stood in shock beside him, shrieking in horror. Her scream was intensified when another cut was made to her midsection. She was cut in half._

"_MOTHER! FATHER! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_Itaru heard a chorus of sinister laughter. _

"_Hahahaha! That's for killing us, you filthy half breed!"_

"_Yes, now that we have our revenge, we can do what we intended to do when we were first alive!" said the voices._

"_Itaru!" Meimei shouted._

"_Meimei! No! get away from here!"_

_But his warning came all too late. A figure behind him with eyes glowing red raised a sickle above her head. The figure brought it down to stab her skull._

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**_

…..

Inuyasha and the gang were sitting together by a fire late at night, dressing their wounds. Kagome provided her bandages and ointment for the cuts on their bodies. When she was done, they all looked nearly like mummies.

"Well, that's the last of them! It took two and a half bottles of antiseptic ointment to cover all of our cuts!" Kagome declared.

"And that bunch of healing herbs that Jinenji gave us. Thank you immensely Kagome." Sango said tightening her bandages.

"Inuyasha, you're okay right?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah im okay. My demonic powers have returned. My wounds should heal on their own now." Inuyasha said.

"Well that's a relief." Kagome said. she looked over to where Itaru and Meimei were laying side by side.

"They have been out for hours. You would think they would have woken up by now. And their powers haven't returned either." Sango said.

"You're right. But I suppose that the amount of both spiritual and demonic power that was released, this is to be expected. All we can do is wait." Miroku said.

They all sat silently for a moment until they heard a small moan. "ughh. I have the worst migrane. What happened?" Shippo muttered.

"Oh! Well Shippo's awake!" kagome said

"meeeeeeeeewwww" Kilala cried weakly

"And Kilala too. The blast of purified energy must have really sucked the life out of them. It's a miracle that they weren't killed." Miroku said.

"Where's Meimei and Itaru?" Shippo asked.

"They're over there." Kagome pointed. They two were out cold, still in their human forms.

They all sat silently around the fire. Inuyasha sat still with his eyes closed, but made a face of disgust and slapped his nose. They all looked up at the sudden motion and saw something big and brown on Inuyasha's hand.

"Old man Myoga. What brings you here?" Inuyasha said.

"Well, I came to ask an important question. I was flying over this area earlier today, minding my own business, when suddenly a great wave of demonic energy hit me! it was in the form of pure heat and it was quite hot, let me tell you. But then after that, there was a great blast of light that reached into the sky! I had no idea where the blast had come from! I suspected that it might have been you, Kagome, but your powers are not that strong."

"Hey!" Kagome exclaimed.

"But I rethought my hypothesis, and thought perhaps it was Inuyasha. But he has no spiritual powers. I had no idea what it was! So I thought perhaps you had an idea what it was, master Inuyasha."

"Yeah, we know. it was Meimei." Inuyasha said.

"Meimei? I don't think I've met her." Myoga said.

"She's over there. Naraku tricked her into trying to take Koga's shikon jewel shards, but his plan was foiled so he put her under a spell! She had no idea what she was doing until her brother Itaru was impaled throught the stomach. Then it seemed like she broke the spell. After that, she just lost it!" Kagome said.

"Hmmm. Impressive. But she's only human, how could she possibly conjure demonic power herself?" Myoga asked.

"Meimei and her brother seem to be hanyous with exceptionally high spiritual powers. It is probably because one of their parent s was a priest…" Miroku explained

"but even that's up for debate! We don't know who their parents are! Itaru's sword reacts to tetsusaiga much like tenseiga does. Which brings me to the question: Myoga, did my old man leave an additional sword that was forged from his fang? And did my old man have more than one mistress?" Inuyasha asked.

"Hmmm…additional swords? Other than the So'unga, there are no additional weapons that your father carried with him…as for having another mistress, your father may have strayed away from the lady of the west once, but he was no whoremonger; even though she was a bitch—in every literal sense of the Sesshomaru gets that from her….." myoga said under his breath.

"It's gotta be! no other sword would react to tetsusaiga like that unless there was another sword forged by his fang!" Inuyasha said.

"Hmmm…perhaps there was another mistress. The master was kind of secretive his last few years of his life…" Myoga jumped over to Itaru and landed on his nose. "There's only one way to find out…" Myoga stuck his sucker into Itaru's cheek and started sampling on his blood.

"But it still doesn't make sense for Meimei. It doesn't add up…." Sango said.

Myoga withdrew his sucker and had a scrutinizing face.

"Well?" they all said.

"You father's blood is there, no doubt about that. But it is quite diluted…"

"Huh? Diluted? What do you mean?" Kagome said.

"It almost tastes like a sip of weak sake. Unsatisfying and bland."

"so there is some of my old man's blood there?"

"yes, there is no mistaking it. But I taste more human than demon. It's almost as if he is only…."

"Only what?" they all said.

"It seems to me that this boy is only—" *SLAP!* Itaru slapped the little insect on his cheek.

"Huh? A mosquito?" Itaru mumbled.

Itaru looked at his hand. 'Myoga?' Itaru thought

"Itaru! You're awake!" Shippo said crawling into her lap.

"Yeah… where's Meimei?" Itaru asked. He looked beside him and saw his little sister, still unconscious.

He picked up her limp body and held it close to him. He buried his face in her now black hair.

'Meimei….if only I wasn't so selfish…all I was worried about was getting the tetsusaiga. But I totally forgot about _you_…' Itaru thought regretfully.

"Itaru…" Kagome began.

"I let Meimei get into this. I should not have let her alone…I should have gone with her…"

"Itaru, what's done is done. You can't go back and change it." Sango said.

"but I let my sister down! I can't forgive myself for that!" Itaru said, his eyes welling up. Sango went over and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Believe me Itaru. I know all too well what you are going through. Putting your little sister under his spell and making you turn on him is the exact same despicable thing he did to me and my brother Kohaku. There was nothing you could do.'

"But if I was watching her closer, even if she was going to relieve herself , I should have gone with her!"

"There's no way you would have known that, Itaru. Things like that happen, Itaru." Miroku said.

"But…that still doesn't change the fact that…"

Mmmmnnnhhhh

Itaru looked down on his little sister and saw her face grimace.

"Itaru…"

"Meimei!"

The little girl opened her brown eyes. The sparkle had gone out of them, she was weak and tired. She could barely move. "Itaru…imp so sorry…I didn't mean to hurt anyone…"

"No Meimei! It's not your fault, its mine! All mine!"

"no its not, if I hadn't have gone to the potty earlier, you all would have not been hurt…" Meimei mumbled.

"Meimei, you dummy! Stop talking like that! That's ridiculous!" Itaru shouted.

"That too…if I wasn't so stupid and didn't believe that Naraku was my friend, none of this would have happened…you're right big brother, I am a dummy."

"No no no! I take that back, Meimei! You're not stupid, you're not a dummy, you're not anything! I didn't mean any of it, Meimei!"

Meimei only sighed and closed her eyes.

"What are you talking about, big brother…you're right about everything…" Meimei whispered. She sighed a heavy sigh and lay still in his arms.

"Meimei…? Meimei? MEIMEI!"

The group watched the scene in front of them. Sango felt tears come to her eyes. It was like the tragedy of her and her brother Kohaku all over again. But this was even worse, they were but children. Sango tightened her hands in a fist, 'damn you, Naraku…damn you to hell! You vile, sinister, disgusting villain! We _will_ kill you. Even if we all have do die to do it!'

Itaru stood up and walked away into the forest. His eyes were filled with intense hurt and sorrow. "Itaru! Where are you going?" Kagome asked.

"Please. We just need some time alone…" Itaru muttered.

They watched Itaru stalk away. Inuyasha only sat with his eyes closed. Myoga popped up and leaped onto Kagome's knee.

"sigh…the fate of a hanyou is a tragic one. Each and every day, their lives are a gamble between life and death. A hanyou never knows when his final day will be…" myoga said.

"But Inuyasha never has to worry about that! Inuyasha is strong enough to defend himself; and besides he has us!"

"you don't understand. The blood of a hanyou is always fighting for control for its body. The spiritual blood of one is of course weaker than the demonic side. For master Inuyasha, his only problem is that his soul will be devoured by his demon side…however, master Inuyasha will keep living…" myoga said.

"What are you getting at, Myoga?" Miroku asked.

"Itaru and Meimei are the son and daughter of a powerful demon and a powerful priestess, this is a dangerous combination. The struggle between the demonic and spiritual powers is even more fierce. But in their case, their blood with the spiritual powers will prove to be more powerful. Eventually, the purifying qualities of their human blood will eradicate the demon blood, and when that happens their hearts will simply stop beating…" Myoga said.

"What?" they all said.

"Yes, it is true. The fate of self-destruction is destined for all hanyous. And if there isn't an equal balance in both their demon and human sides, they will in one way or another, die. That is why for some, killing hanyous at birth is a gesture of mercy." Myoga informed. "it is my conclusion, that the moment that Meimei released that amount of demonic and spiritual energy sped up the process…"

"That's terrible!" Kagome said. she, with Shippo in her arms, got up and ran after Itaru and Meimei.

"But what really disturbs me is the ratio of demon blood in Itaru…it seems that Itaru is only a qua—" SQUISH!

Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha followed after Kagome into the dark forest. They found Kagome, Shippo, Itaru and Meimei sitting by a cliff. The moon was only a sliver in the sky, but it was bright enough to illuminate the night casting a bluish glow over everything. Itaru looked blankly up into the sky. His little sister looked up towards her big brother, a slight smile crossing her face.

"Big brother…"

"shhhh…don't speak Meimei."

"But I just wanted to ask something of you…"

"What is it?"

"Do you remember the lullaby…?"

"Yeah…?"

"Could…could you sing it for me? it always made me happy…"

"Yeah of course…"

Meimei closed her eyes and sat back in her big brother's embrace.

_Don't lose your way_

_With each passing day_

_You've come so far_

_Don't throw it away_

_Live believing_

_Dreams are for weaving_

_Wonders are waiting to start_

_Live your story,_

_Faith, hope and glory._

_Hold to the truth in your heart,_

_If we hold on together,_

_I know our dreams will never die._

_Dreams see us through to forever._

_Where clouds roll by,_

_For you and I._

Miroku, Sango and Inuyasha found where the four had gone. They stood in the trees observing the scene secretly.

"Itaru is over there." Miroku whispered.

"And so is Kagome and Shippo." Said Sango.

"It looks like Itaru is singing to Meimei." Miroku said.

"A lullaby to comfort her…that is so sweet of him…" Sango said. "What do you think, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha only stood there, listening intently to the lullaby.

"I should have known to ask him…" Sango mumbled.

_Souls in the wind,_

_Must learn how to bend;_

_Seek out a star._

_Hold on to the end._

_Valley, mountain,_

_There is a fountain._

_Washes our tears all away_

_Words are swaying,_

_Someone is praying;_

_Please let us come home to stay_

_If we hold on together,_

_I know our dreams will never die;_

_Dreams see us through to forever._

_Where clouds roll by,_

_For you and I._

'That lullaby…I-I-I know that lullaby!' Inuyasha said.

"Master Inuyasha, whats the matter?" myoga asked.

Inuyasha didn't answer. Staring intently at them. 'It-it can't be!"

_When we are out there in the dark,_

_We'll dream about the sun._

_In the dark we'll feel the light,_

_Warm our hearts, everyone._

Kagome and Shippo joined in the melody.

"_If we hold on together,_

_I know our dreams will never die_

_Dreams see us through to forever"_

"_As high as souls can fly,_

_The clouds roll by," Meimei muttered._

"_For you and I." _Inuyasha whispered. Inuyasha turned to run away. Myoga fell off of his shoulder and landed on the ground.

"What's gotten into him?" Sango said.

"I don't know…" Miroku said.

The two walked toward the group of four and up to Itaru and a sleeping Meimei.

"She's asleep!" Miroku whispered.

"That was a beautiful lullaby! Where did you learn it?" Sango asked.

"My father sung it to Meimei when she was younger…she would never go to sleep without it…"

"Your father sang that to her?" Kagome asked.

"Your father must have been a good musician!" Miroku said.

"He didn't make it up, he says that our grandmother used to sing that to him too." Itaru said.

"Hey, where's Inuyasha?" Kagome said.

"Yeah where did he go?" Shippo said.

"Wait! Inuyasha was here?" Itaru exclaimed.

"Yeah he was standing next to us listening to your lullaby. And then he ran away!" Sango said.

"Myoga, do you have any idea why he would have just taken off like that?" Kagome asked.

"I do not know. But he seemed quite shocked at something…" Myoga said.

Itaru stared downward, sweating in fear. 'Oh no! Inuyasha heard the lullaby! Inuyasha will know for sure now! Itaru looked down at the leaves. They were almost completely dried and dead. 'not that I had any more time anyways…"

…..

Inuyasha had run away deep in the forest. He rested on top of a rock in the middle of a clearing . he sat on top of it and thought of what he had heard.

'There's no mistake…that was the same lullaby that my mother used to sing to me! but how…?'

Suddenly, Inuyasha took a whiff of the air and picked up an all too familiar scent.

'heh, just what I need…'

Emerging from the forest came Sesshomaru in his usual cold silence. He stared straight at Inuyasha and he stared back.

"Inuyasha."

"Sesshomaru…" Inuyasha began. "I have some questions for you."

**ALRIGHT YOU GUYS! THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR! GET READY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER! **

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	18. Chapter 18: true identities revealed!

Inuyasha Regashi

Itaru and Meimei: true identity revealed!

I forgot to mention in the last chapter, that the song used in the last chapter for the lullaby is called _if we hold on together_ by Diana Ross. This is the theme song for the Land Before Time series. If you remember those movies, you receive 100,000,000.50 cool pts!

"A question for me? good job, little brother, you were smart enough to think of one. But maybe I shouldn't give you too much credit, it is probably a dumb question anyways." Sesshomaru said.

"Cut the crap, Sesshomaru. This is important and I expect an answer: our old man, did he have more than one sword that was forged from his fang?"

"Just what I thought. A dumb question from an ignorant hanyou. Should I expect anything different? Why would you ask such a thing?" Sesshomaru scoffed.

"Shut up and listen would you?! I'm asking because…well…an acquaintance of mine has a sword called the sutasaiga. And I was retrieving the tetsusaiga after a battle when all of a sudden, the sword called to this sword sutasaiga. It came on its own accord and landed right in front of me. and it shook just like the tenseiga would when the tetsusaiga is near. The tetsusaiga and the tenseiga are the only swords that can do that. So how is it, if the old man had no other swords that the sutasaiga is connected to the tetsusaiga?"

"Hmmm…" Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at him. "Impossible. If there were such a sword, I Sesshomaru would be the first to know. not a hanyou like you or this acquaintance of yours."

"Look, I'm not kidding about this. This sword has its own will much like the tenseiga and the tetsusaiga.! If you don't believe me, watch this…" Inuyasha lifted the tetsusaiga into the air above his head. The tetsusaiga pulsated three times.

'Hmmm what is Inuyasha doing? Tetsusaiga is calling to something?'

…..

Itaru and the others were sitting down at the campsite around the fire. Meimei and Shippo were sound asleep and Itaru was soon to follow.

"I don't get it. Where has Inuyasha gone off to?" Kagome said.

"You know him, if he is upset about something he goes off into the forest to sulk." Miroku said.

"But what could he possibly be upset about? I don't understand." Kagome said.

"No one knows with that one." Miroku breathed.

"Why don't you go get some sleep, Kagome? Its awfully late; Inuyasha will be back, don't worry about it." Sango suggested.

"Um okay, fine." Kagome yawned. She opened up her sleeping bag and crawled in. 'Inuyasha…whats wrong? It's not like you to just walk off.'

Silence settled over the camp as the group tried to find rest. But their rest would be postponed; sutasaiga pulsated and glowed green. Itaru cracked open his eyes and was suddenly yanked into the air. By the time he was fully aware of what was happening, he was flying into the forest. The others became alert at his cries and stood up drowsily.

"Another sleepless night I see…" Miroku said bitterly.

"Like my father always used to say, a demon slayer's work is never done." Sango sighed.

The five got up and chased after an airborne Itaru, who yelped and screamed the whole way.

"YOU GUYS, DO SOMETHING!" Itaru shouted.

"Hold on, Itaru! We'll get you down!" Kagome assured.

'I don't understand…sutasaiga is being called—oh shit! Sutasaiga is being called! This must mean that…!' Itaru came into a clearing where he landed in between Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.

'Damn! I didn't mean to drag him along too! Now Sesshomaru might hurt him if he thinks that this might be a secret sword from the old man!' Inuyasha thought

'That boy, I've seen him before!' Sesshomaru thought, remembering the scene in the meadow.

"So this is the acquaintance you were talking about?"

"Wait, you dragged me here, Inuyasha!?" Itaru said shocked.

"I didn't mean to drag _you_ along, kid. I just wanted the sutasaiga to prove a point." Inuyasha said.

"Itaru! Inuyasha! Sesshomaru?" Kagome shouted.

"Inuyasha! You asshole!" Itaru spat. In that instant, Sesshomaru appeared in front of the boy. Cold icy amber eyes stared down at him, peering into his very soul. Sesshomaru picked up the sword still attached to Itaru's back. "This sword?" Sesshomaru hardened his glare at the boy. "Tell me, boy: why can I not smell your scent, nor sense the aura from your sword?"

"Ummm I don't know?" Itaru said, feigning innocence.

"Do not play games with me, boy. My claws can rip your throat out before you take your next breath." Sesshomaru threatened.

"Inuyasha! What did you drag Itaru here for?! Now Sesshomaru is going to try and kill him!" Kagome shouted.

"Look! I didn't mean to do all that! I just wanted the sutasaiga!" Inuyasha shouted back.

"uggggghhh! Are you kidding me!? you're putting his life in danger here! He just suffered a traumatizing ordeal today!" Kagome screamed.

"I SAID I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

"I'm going to ask you one more time. Why is your scent concealed from my nose. It would be wise to answer correctly, boy." Sesshomaru said in his cold fearful tone.

"Let me go!" Itaru tried to kick Sesshomaru in the groin. But Sesshomaru stepped back and it only landed on his abdomen. Sesshomaru dropped Itaru and he scrambled towards Inuyasha.

"I can't believe you Inuyasha! How heartless can you possibly be!?" kagome scolded.

"I'm sorry, okay?! what more do you want from me!?" Inuyasha shouted.

"Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is a dangerous and intimidating demon! If he thinks that he is in any relationship with you and him, he will kill him!" Sango said.

'Now is my chance! Its tetsusaiga or bust!' Itaru thought. While Inuyasha and the others were arguing, Itaru whizzed past Inuyasha and grabbed his tetsusaiga. 'I can leave Meimei here. She will be safer out of harm's way. I'll go back home by myself!'

"Seriously! You guys are really starting to—HEY!" Inuyasha saw Itaru running away with tetsusaiga.

"Hey! Give back my sword!" Inuyasha shouted. A chase ensued with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru following.

"WAIT YOU GUYS!" Kagome called.

"I knew it! Itaru was trying to steal the tetsusaiga earlier!" Shippo said.

"But why? His sword is just as good!" Kagome said.

"It doesn't matter at this point! We need to get the tetsusaiga and Itaru before either of those two knuckleheads get to him!" Miroku said.

Itaru ran as fast as his human legs would carry him. 'Damn! Sunrise, could you come any slower?!' Itaru thought. He weaved in and out of the forest, leaping over rocks and shrubs. 'How long can I keep this up?! Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are leagues faster than me in this state!' he turned around to see that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru were indeed behind him. Sesshomaru's expression was blank and neutral. But Itaru knew that look: he was bent on killing him! Sesshomaru used his whip of light to snag Itaru's foot. Itaru tripped and fell. Sesshomaru landed on top of him, poison claws poised to strike. Itaru yelled and put his hands up to protect himself. A bright light came between the two. Sesshomaru stepped back in time to avoid the purifying light.

"Itaru! What are you doing?!" Kagome shouted. Itaru closed his eyes and continued to run from his pursuers. 'Im sorry Kagome…this is the only way I can save you and father!'

The sun began to peak out from the horizon. 'great if I can keep them at bay until the sun rises, I can take off and give them the slip!' but his hopes were dashed when Sesshomaru jumped in front of him and knocked him back into a tree. Itaru gave a painful grunt at the blow, when Inuyasha grabbed him by the arm. "what do you want with my tetsusaiga, huh?!"

"ugghh! Im not telling you!" Inuyasha punched him in the face. "wrong answer!" Sesshomaru knocked Inuyasha out of the way and took his place to interrogate Itaru.

"I told you I would not ask again. Why do you have no scent, and why is your sword like that of the tenseiga and the tetsusaiga?" Sesshomaru said.

"ughhh…." Was his only answer.

"I expect an answer!" Sesshomaru picked Itaru up by the hair and swung him into another tree. Itaru gave out a greater cry than before. Itaru got up and unsheathed his sutasaiga.

"Hmm…it is a sword fight you want, is it?" Sesshomaru said cooly, drawing Tokijin.

"Sesshomaru! Leave him alone! He's mine!" Inuyasha said tackling Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru easily jumped out of the way and charged at Itaru.

Itaru grunted and raised his sutasaiga to block Tokijin. Itaru took a step back but slipped. Sesshomaru took the opportunity and brought his sword down on his head. Itaru rolled out of the way just in time, but also right in the hands of Inuyasha's claws.

"Take this!" Inuyasha shouted.

"GAHHH!"

"Inuyasha stop it! He is just human right now!" Kagome pleaded.

"It doesn't matter to me! if he takes my most prized possession, he's just asking for an ass-kicking!"

"Both of you just stop it already! There is another way to figure these things out without killing him!" Kagome tried to persuade them out of seriously hurting him. Meanwhile, Meimei was starting to wake up. She spied through blurry eyes, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha fighting Itaru at once. She instantly became alert and asked, "you guys! Whats going on?!"

"Sesshomaru wants to know why he can't smell him and why the sutasaiga reacts to their swords like it does. Itaru doesn't want to tell them, so Sesshomaru intends to beat the answer out of him. And Itaru stole the tetsusaiga from Inuyasha. So that's the only reason he's upset." Miroku informed.

"No! They can't do that! Itaru is still a human!" Meimei jumped out of Kagome's arms and toward the fight.

"No Meimei! You haven't fully recovered yet!" Miroku warned.

"Itaru! Just tell them the truth! They can help us!" Meimei pleaded.

"No! they don't need to get involved!" Itaru shouted, dodging another attack from Sesshomaru.

"Please big brother! Tell them already! You'll be killed!" Meimei shouted back.

"I said no! I'm going to go ahead and take the tetsusaiga to father! You stay here until it's safe to come back home!" Itaru explained.

"oh no you're not! You're not taking my tetsusaiga anywhere!" Inuyasha growled.

Itaru received another punch to the face and then to the belly.

Sesshomaru caught the boy and pinned him against a rock so forcefully, it created a crater.

"Please, Itaru! Stop being a butt head!"

"No!" Itaru grunted. Sesshomaru lifted his now green glowing hands.

"Die." Sesshomaru said.

"_**PAPA! UNCLE! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!" **_Meimei cried as loud as she could.

Sesshomaru's claws turned back to normal as he looked back at they both looked back at the little girl standing behind them. Inuyasha twitched his ears, in disbelief of what he had just heard.

'Uncle?' Sesshomaru thought.

"Did she just call me…papa?"

"Meimei…YOU IDIOT!" Itaru spat.

"Meimei, what did you say just now?" Sango asked

Meimei's face remained neutral and still.

Sesshomaru dropped the boy smartly on his bottom. He tried to crawl away while the group was distracted. But just in time, Miroku and Sango blocked his way.

"Hold on a minute! You're not going anywhere!" Sango said.

"Yes, tell us who you really are!" Miroku commanded.

Itaru stood up stared at his little sister. "you can be mad at me all you want to, big brother. But I'm tired of living in a lie! If someone is going to tell the truth I guess it's gonna be me!" Meimei declared.

Itaru softened his glare. "It's okay, Meimei. You don't have to say anything. It's my responsibility to straighten things out. You just went along with what I wanted. None of this is your fault. It was my idea and uncles to come here in the first place." Itaru apologized.

Itaru turned towards the others, the suns rays peaking over the mountains.

"Heheh. I guess these magic leaves uncle left us really worked to the bitter end, huh? All the clues I gave away and you guys still didn't figure it out. Shippo you really have gotten better." Itaru said, taking out the now dead magic leaves.

"Hey! Those are kitsune magic leaves!" Shippo said.

Itaru threw the leaves in the air, and with his demonic powers returned, he cut the leaves with his claws.

At that moment, the whole group's eyes were opened. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha and Shippo's senses were filled with their scent.

"What?!"

'It can't be…'

"No way!"

"I guess I should tell you upfront. My name isn't really Itaru, that's just what everyone calls me to avoid confusion…"

"Confusion?" said Sango.

"Then what's your real name?" Kagome said.

A long silence followed. The sun finally completely risen over the horizon.

"heheh…my real name…."

"_is INUYASHA!"_

Yes! The moment you have all been waiting for! There you go you guys! Now it might take me a minute to figure out what their background story is. Because the one I have in mind isnt quite good enough. So when I figure it out, ill update. It shouldn't take too long =]


	19. Chapter 19: legends

Inuyasha regashi

"whuh….what did you just say your name was?" Inuyasha said..

"Oh, didn't you hear me? I said my real name is Inuyasha!"

"B-b-b-ut…YOU DON'T LOOK ANYTHING LIKE ME!" Inuyasha said nervously.

"What are you talking about, Inuyasha? They are exact replicas of you!" Shippo said.

"N-n-no wayyy! You're lying! Theres no way you're my kid!" Inuyasha squawked.

"Oh yeah? Well then, if I was lying would I have THIS?!" Itaru whipped out Inuyasha's enchanted beads and held it out for him to see.

"Inuyasha's enchanted beads! It can't be!" Sango said.

"They only way that the enchanted beads could be removed is if Kagome herself removes them or…" Miroku began.

"I'm dead…" Inuyasha breathed.

Itaru's face became grave. The whole group stood in shock of the revelation.

"And let me guess, your real name isnt Meimei either?" Inuyasha said.

"No, people call me Meimei for short. My name is Kiyome hehe!"

"Kiyome…Kiyome means 'cleansed', what a fitting name!" Miroku said.

"Hehe, thank you godfather!" Meimei said.

"Godfather?" Miroku said.

"Did you hear that, Miroku? You're a godfather! Ummm what's a godfather? Miroku is no god."

"A godfather is a close family friend who is a sort of guardian or uncle." Kagome explained.

"Oh! So I have the honor of being a guardian of you two? Inuyasha I am honored!" Miroku said jokingly.

"Shut up now, and you won't get that privelage revoked." Inuyasha said. "So who's the mother, Kagome?" Inuyasha sneered.

"Yup!" Meimei said.

They two fell in embarrassment.

"WHAAAAAAAAA?!" Kagome screamed.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I CANT….UGHHHH! I CANT EVEN THINK OF IT!" Inuyasha shouted despite his outright objection to the thought his face was beet red.

'NO NO NO! I CANT BECOME A TEENAGE MOM! I CANT! I STILL HAVE MY WHOLE LIFE AHEAD OF ME! I STILL HAVE TO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL! THEY'LL NEVER LET ME FINISH ONCE THEY FIGURE OUT THAT I HAVE KIDS!' Kagome cried and wailed in despair.

"Hmmm… you guys really have changed, all of you. Shippo is bigger, Sango and Miroku are older and more mature.."

"Hey are you trying to say that we aren't mature now?! Look at those two! They're the ones that are immature!" Sango said defensively.

"But that's the best part. Here they can't stop arguing. Back where I come from, they can't keep their hands off of each other. Geez, you would think that they would know of a little thing called 'restraint'."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" they both said.

"And uncle Sesshomaru is as sweet as a puppy!" Meimei said.

Everyone froze at Meimei's brazen comment. "Meimei! Don't you think that now is not the time to be saying all that!?" Itaru hissed.

"But what? It's true! I mean, he has really changed! He even la—" Meimei was cut off by a hand to the mouth. "Do you want him to kill us, Meimei?! Remember, this isn't the uncle we know, okay!?"

They both stared at the daiyoukai with fear and trembling.

"Forgive my little sister's brazen outburst, lord uncle! She didn't know what she was saying!" Itaru said bowing.

Sesshomaru only stood there staring at them both. Then he turned around to leave. "Ridiculous." was his only parting word.

"Uncle Sesshomaru!" Meimei cried.

"Let him go. This is obviously too much for him to handle." Inuyasha said.

"So tell us, why are you two here in this era?" Miroku asked.

"Well, it's a long and complicated story…" Itaru said.

"We can wait." They all said.

"Umm…fine then…it all started on mother's birthday…and father had just come back from war…" Itaru said.

"War? What war?" Inuyasha asked.

"Well, from time to time, uncle Sesshomaru asks for your help in wars against the dog demon clan. But he always says that if you are going to share the same blood as him and his father, you might as well start acting like it." Itaru explained.

"Well that sounds like Sesshomaru." Kagome said.

"AHAHAHAAHAHAAHAAAHAHAHAA! YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME NOW! THERE'S NO WAY THAT SESSHOMARU WOULD EVER THINK OF SOMETHING LIKE THAT!" Inuyasha was rolling on the floor laughing.

"Will you let me finish the story?!" Itaru said.

"Go ahead, don't mind him." Kagome said.

"Okay, like I was saying…father had just come back from war and it was mother's birthday…"

_It was a bright day in the home village. The streets bustled with activity; there was plenty of work to be done, shopkeeping, farming, cleaning and cooking; but none of them minded. It was safe and peaceful in their village—all thanks to a certain hanyou._

"_Heeey everyone! Lord Inuyasha has returned!"_

_All eyes turned to Inuyasha and his daughter, Meimei. Whispers and mumbling floated into their sensitive ears of their return._

"_Where has he been? He has been absent for about a three months now?" said one woman._

"_Oh he was just away at war, helping his half-brother in the west." Said another._

"_I heard that his half-brother is a ferocious demon!" said the other lady._

"_I have seen him with my own eyes! He came to visit every now and then when little Rin was living here with lady Kaede, may the gods rest her soul." Said another lady._

_Inuyasha was used to grumblings about him, but he was not used to the whispers of villagers to be positive. It still took Inuyasha by surprise when a villager treated him like an honorable member of the village. Though he did vow to be the protector of that village, he preferred to keep to himself._

"_So what's first on our list, papa?" Meimei asked._

"_Well, first we have to get some fish. Some big ones. So that means we go to Daiki's."_

_The two stopped in front of a fish market, where a stout man with a mustache and small beard stood proudly behind his produce. _

"_I'll give you the best price for these fishes, five silver pieces!"_

_Inuyasha sniffed the fish twice and then retreated back. "No wonder they're so cheap! They smell like they've been caught four days ago!" Inuyasha spat._

"_What do you expect for me to do?! We haven't had a good catch in three days! What am I supposed to do with them!?"_

"_Are you sure that these are the freshest ones you have?" Inuyasha said doubtfully._

"_I'm positive! My men haven't come back yet! And besides, those dimwits couldn't catch a cold-"_

"_Hey boss!" came a voice from down the road. Three young men were wheeling a cart full of fresh fish towards them. "You should have been there, boss! They just leapt right out of the water!"_

_Inuyasha glared at the salesman as he sweated nervously. "okday okay okay! Two of my biggest fish, for the price of one!"_

_The two were back on their way down the road to finish their errands._

"_You know, boss, he could very well hurt you. Besides, you really shouldn't treat him like that… he did save this village from the vile demon Naraku…" said one of the fishermen._

"_Well I think that those are just run of the mill women's tales! There's no way that a half demon could take down a full fledged demon! Besides, he's never done anything for me!"_

_Inuyasha and Meimei were passing by a gift shop when something caught Meimei's eye. It was a beautiful string of jade beads that shined brightly in the sun. they were green as the grass on the ground and the leaves on the trees._

"_Wow, papa! These are so pretty! Mama would love something like this!" Meimei said._

"_Yeah I'm sure she would…" Inuyasha said. Sometimes he felt bad that Kagome abandoned her era to live with him. It was so safe in her time, and there was little to be desired. They had everything and more, but she gave it all up to be with him. Sometimes he could hear Kagome sigh heavily, and he would know that she was missing her home._

'_She deserves all the luxuries that this time can offer. If only I could afford it…' Inuyasha thought to himself looking at his money pouch. It only contained a few silver coins. He sighed heavily and turned to Meimei. "Could you get it for her, papa?" Meimei asked. _

"_I'm sorry, Meimei. But I don't have enough money for it." Inuyasha confessed._

"_awww!" Meimei moaned._

"_That's no problem at all…" said the old shopkeeper. "Here. Take it."_

"_whoa whoa whoa, I couldn't take that!" Inuyasha said._

"_Nonsense! It is lady Kagome's birthday, is it not? Here, tell her it's a gift from old Manabu and Isae!"_

"_Wow old man, thanks a lot. I'm sure she'll love it!" Inuyasha said, taking the box from the man's whithered hand._

"_Anything for the one who saved our beloved village. We are all forever in your debt! No amount of money or jewels can compensate!" said old Manabu._

"_Heh, I didn't do it for you guys. I just didn't want Naraku to have the last laugh!" Inuyasha scoffed._

"_And here, little lady. Something sweet for you!" said old Manabu, handing her a piece of sticky rice._

"_Oh yummy! Thank you Manabu-sama!"Meimei said, happily chewing on the piece of sticky rice._

_The two left the village and into the forest. The giant trees swayed in the wonderful breeze that tousled their hair. Meimei danced along with the leaves that were set adrift by the wind._

'_Just like her mother.' Inuyasha thought affectionately._

_They came to a big hill where steps made out of stone that led up to the top. The birds happily chirped in the trees above that filtered out the sun's rays creating a beautiful pattern on the ground. Meimei skipped up the stairs ahead of her father as Inuyasha walked calmly behind her. They finally reached the top to reveal a modest sized house that stood at the peak of the hill. Not too small, but not too big. Inuyasha liked things simple and didn't like things to be too fancy. But the villagers insisted that the house have more than one room, so they built in three rooms: a room for Inuyasha and Kagome, a room for Itaru and Meimei and a common room where they cooked and received company. There was a huge front yard with a traditional Japanese garden in the back. Itaru and Shippo were busy hanging up lanterns for the party. "Okay a little bit higher! Now to the left! A little more.." Itaru said._

"_Hey you better make this quick! My shoulders are starting to ache from you standing on me like this!" a mature Shippo said. his hair was now in a long ponytail, his features were more defined and masculine. His feet were no longer like that of a fox, but that of a human's. _

"_Okay, that's it! a little more! A little more! There we go!"_

"_HIIII GUUYYYYSSS!" Meimei shouted. The two toppled over at the sudden noise._

"_Ooops! Were you guys doing something?" Meimei asked._

"_No, sis. Not at all…" Itaru grunted._

"_Stop fooling around, you two! Kagome will be here any moment!" Inuyasha ordered._

"_Where is mama anyways?" Meimei asked._

"_Oh Sango said that she and the other women would keep her busy at the river."_

"_Oh! I hope that they can! Kagome won't be distracted for long!" Shippo said._

"_Don't worry about it! She will be nice and distracted." Inuyasha said pridefully._

_Kagome was washing clothes at the river. The day was starting to get hot; she wiped her brow and pulled up the sleeves of her kimono a little more._

"_Wow, this is going to be a long day. All I want to do is kick my feet up and rest. A nice long steaming hot bath would be really nice. Maybe with Inuyasha….mmm…I can just imagine it now….ahhh. That's all I really want for my birthday, some alone time with Inuyasha. He has been away for over three months now…"_

_Sango came up behind her, panting (although faking) "Kagome! Come quick! Chie says that little B__ūnko has a fever!"_

"_Oh okay! I'll be right there!" Kagome said gathering her basket of medicinal herbs that was sitting right beside her. She and Sango rushed to the little hut in the village where the peasant Chie lived. _

"_he says that he feels very poorly m'lady! He says that he has a stomach ache!"_

"_alright! Let me handle this!" Kagome said. she uncovered the basket of herbs and asked for a cup of hot water._

"_Alright little Būnko! Let's see how you feel…" Kagome put her hand to the little boy's head._

"_Būnko, you feel fine…perhaps you've been sitting by the fire too long…" Kagome said._

"_No, miss Kagome! I have no fever! My foot hurt!" Būnko said._

"_Your foot? I thought your mother said that it was your stomach that hurt, and Sango said you have a fever…" Kagome looked at the two women with suspicion._

"_err, perhaps the boy recovered m'lady!" Chie said._

"_Yes! See Kagome? Even your very presence can cure ailments!" Sango said nervously._

" _I know I'm a strong priestess and all, but I'm not that strong…" Kagome said. She got up and left the hut and returned to her chores._

"_Chie! I thought we agreed that he had a fever!" Sango said._

"_I thought it was a stomach ache! With a fever, you can tell if it so, but with a stomach ache she cannot tell! And all that she would give him is a special tea!" said Chie._

"_Hmmm that's a good point…I guess we should have gone with that…" Sango said._

"_How are we to keep lady Kagome occupied? She is quick as a whip, she is not easily fooled!" said Chie._

"_Yes, she is. She's a clever one, alright!" Sango said. "I'd better get back and see to it that she stays busy!" she got up and left the hut and spotted her twin daughters Ami and Yui carrying parcels._

"_You got the gifts?" Sango asked._

"_They didn't have it in the color she likes!" said Ami_

"_And Jun said that he has no more red rice for the sekihan*! It should take him half a day to go to the market in the other village to get them!" said Yui._

"_oh this is just perfect! The sekihan won't be ready and if we don't keep on our toes Kagome will find out about the surprise party, and everything will be ruined! Well, tell Jun to go on his swiftest horse if he has to! I want those sekihan by sundown!" Sango ordered._

"_YES MOTHER! RIGHT AWAY MOTHER!" the twins exclaimed. The two dashed away to relay the message to the chef. _

"_Ugghhh….." Sango groaned and stood in the middle of the street. "I guess I have to go and convince someone to have a fake illness. At least until sundown."_

_Miroku and his son Hiro walked up the stone steps to Inuyasha and Kagome's house. The sun was beginning to set, and Inuyasha, Itaru, Shippo and Meimei were finishing with the preparations. _

"_Are you all almost finished?" he asked._

"_Yeah, almost. And just in time too, its almost sundown. Sango is flipping out, she cant keep Kagome busy enough! And not only that, the sekihan isnt ready yet!" Inuyasha said._

"_Hmm this could prove to be a problem… Hiro, have your sisters purchased the gifts?"Miroku asked._

"_They said that they couldn't find a kimono in the right color. All they could find was a dark blue kimono with a crane design, not a yellow one with flowers…and they could only find one calligraphy brush, but it was of poor quality…"_

"_This may not end the way we hoped…"Miroku sighed._

"_Yeah…and I really wanted this to be special for her…" Inuyasha said disappointedly._

"_Don't worry about it, you guys. Kagome is really gracious. She will appreciate the thought more than anything; we don't have to have everything so perfect." Shippo said._

"_Perhaps…but we still want to go all out for her. It's much more than a birthday celebration, it's the day Inuyasha and Kagome first met. It's been more than twenty years since then…" Miroku stated._

_They were silent for a moment, realizing the truth of the matter. 'You're right, Miroku…its much more than just a birthday celebration. I met my second chance at happiness. Everything has to be perfect or close to it, I owe her that much!' "Okay everyone! Back to work! It's almost showtime! Itaru and Hiro, you go fetch Jinenji and tell its time; let's move everyone!"_

"_Alright! We're on our way!" Hiro said._

"_COME HAJI!" Itaru said as he let out a loud whistle. A second or two later, a giant black dog with red eyes and large teeth emerged from the forest. It landed on the ground in front of Itaru and Hiro. The two friends jumped on its back and rode away._

"_I wanna go too!" Meimei pleaded._

"_Aww come on, Meimei! Can't we just go by ourselves!? You can help Ami, Yui and aunt Sango with the women's work!" Itaru said._

"_No way! I'm going with you! And I'm not a woman! I'm a girl! There's a difference!" Meimei protested._

"_No there isn't stupid! Girls and women are the same thing!" Hiro rebuked._

"_No they're not!" Meimei argued_

"_Are too!" the boys said_

"_Are not!" Meimei shouted_

"_Are too!"_

"_Are NOT NOT NOT!"_

"_Are TOO TOO TOO!"_

"_Itaru let her go with you guys." Inuyasha said._

"_But-but-but pa! she's gonna be asking all kinds of questions and she's just going to be annoying!" Itaru protested._

"_Itaru. I'm not going to ask again." Inuyasha said in a low voice._

"_Oh alright. Get on, Meimei. And you better not say a word!" Itaru commanded. _

"_I promise! My lips are sealed!" Meimei said, imitating herself locking her lips and throwing away the key._

_They were lifted into the air and took off towards the sunset._

"_Itaru, I don't understand. Why is your mother so important to this village?im not trying to say that she shouldn't be, but I'm just curious." Hiro said._

"_Beats me. all they tell us is that she came from a really faraway place. They won't tell me any more than that."_

"_I heard old Manabu say something about defeating some guy named Naraku…do you think that has anything to do with it?" Meimei said._

"_I don't know. And didn't I say to be quiet?!" Itaru snapped._

_Meimei 'relocked' her lips. Itaru sighed to himself. 'wow, pa is really strong. Whoever this Naraku guy is, he probably had his ass kicked! No one can beat my pa! well maybe uncle; but other than him, nobody!' Itaru thought pridefully._

_Jinenji's hut came into view in the middle of a huge field of herbs and plants. Haji landed in front of the hut and Itaru, Hiro and Meimei dismounted the giant dog._

"_HEY JINENJI! ITS ALMOST TIME! GET READY!" Itaru shouted._

"_I am on my way." They could hear the giant hanyou say calmly and meekly._

"_Oh this is gonna be great! I can't wait!" Meimei said._

"_Yeah! Mama is in for the surprise of her life!" Itaru said._

…_.._

_It was finally sundown and Kagome was heading home. "goodness! what has gotten into everyone? Everyone seemed to have illnesses, but then they disappeared! And then Sango kept making me do all these ridiculous chores and errands. Its like they're trying to hide something!"_

"_Lady Kagome!" shouted a voice from the fields_

"_What is it Rikichi? What's the matter?" Kagome answered._

"_There is something strange lurking in the forest over yonder, me thinks that there is a demon there!" Rikichi said._

"_Okay, ill check it out! Go tell Inuyasha!" Kagome commanded._

"_Yes ma'am!" Rikichi complied._

_Kagome ran towards the edge of the forest where Rikichi said the demon was. The sky was starting to get darker and the trees blocked out any light that remained._

"_Hmm these demons don't waste any time creeping out when night falls. Kagome stood still in the middle of the forest, trying to sense the demon's energy. She sensed it, but it felt familiar. ' who could it be?' Kagome thought._

_Suddenly, a tall tree crashed to the ground behind her. Kagome gasped and turned around to meet large, glowing eyes. _

"_Oh Jinenji! You scared me half to death! Thank goodness its just you!" Kagome exhaled._

_Jinenji made no response, but growled instead._

"_jinenji? Are you okay?" Kagome asked._

_Jinenji grabbed her with his mammoth hands and put her in a sack._

"_WAIT! JINENJI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Kagome muffled a cry in the sack._

"_Heheheheh, I'm going to take your liver to make my stew!" Jinenji said menacingly._

"_NO JINENJI! THIS ISNT LIKE YOU! PLEASE!" Kagome pleaded._

"_Heheheh…."_

_Kagome struggled to get out of the hot, suffocating sack. 'if only I had brought my arrows with me! ugh!' _

_It was a few minutes before she felt jinenji stop. Before she knew it, she was dumped out of the sack and onto the ground._

"_Huh? I'm back home! But why is it so dark? Where is Inuyasha?"_

_Suddenly, the lamps around the house were lit, and firecrackers popped loudly._

"_SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAGOME!" came a chorus of voices._

_The whole village was there. There were streamers across the fences and lanterns in the trees._

"_Here you go, Kagome! You know, it was no easy task trying to keep this a secret!" Sango said handing her a paper fan._

"_Oh, so you mean, Jinenji wasn't trying to eat me?!" Kagome said._

"_Oh no! I wouldn't dream of it! I've already been accused of that once, I don't want to be again and it be true!" jinenji said meekly. _

"_Thank you Jinenji!" Kagome said hugging her gentle giant friend._

"_Come on, Kagome! Let's get you freshened up!" Sango said, dragging her away into the house._

"_We have something special for you to wear!" Ami and Yui said. they held out to her the dark blue kimono and a matching white obi belt. They replaced her sandals with new ones for her feet and combed her hair._

"_Kagome, you are going to look so pretty!" Yui said._

"_What should we do with her hair? Let's put it in a nice bun! Simple and elegant!" Ami said._

_No! Braids! Kagome would look so much better with braids!" Yui protested._

"_No! a bun!"_

"_Braids!"_

"_Girls girls! It doesn't matter! Whatever you girls choose for me is fine!" Kagome said._

"_Alright, Kagome…Hey how about both!" they said together. Kagome giggled. She liked being fussed over every once in a while. It was not very often that she could be pampered. When the girls were done with her hair, was in a bun wrapped at the base with a braid with a few stray pieces of hair at the sides and decorated with a flower comb._

"_Perfect!" _

"_We've outdone ourselves, sis!"_

"_You said it!"_

"_Oh thank you! It looks great!" Kagome said._

"_she's not done." Came a voice from outside._

"_Oh! Inuyasha!" the girls said._

"_You can come in."Kagome said._

_Inuyasha entered with his hands in his sleeves and a gentle smile on his face. "Could we have a moment?" he asked._

"_Of course!" they said. They quickly exited the room and out of earshot. Once Inuyasha knew that they were gone, he drew a black box from his sleeve._

"_The finishing touch." He whispered. He opened the box to reveal the string of jade beads._

"_Oh Inuyasha! Theyre beautiful!" Kagome gasped._

"_No more than the one that will be wearing them." He said softly. He drew out the string of beads and opened them. Kagome turned to the mirror and allowed her husband to place the beads tenderly around her neck. She looked back at his beautiful golden eyes. They stared back at her with love and affection. The light from the lamp created a romantic ambiance in the room. Kagome's face glowed as she smiled._

"_You look like a princess, Kagome. I should know: my mother was one." He said kissing her sweetly on the cheek._

"_Inuyasha, I don't know what to say…" Kagome breathed._

"_Don't say anything. Just enjoy the moment while you can." Inuyasha replied._

"_You know, all I really wanted for my birthday was to spend some time with you. You've been away for so long, and I know that you missed me too on the battlefield."_

"_Every second. A lot of those men didn't have anything to go home to. So a lot of them would…you know…do things to themselves…" Inuyasha chuckled._

"_Inuyasha! That's gross!" Kagome exclaimed, lightly punching him on the shoulder._

"_Hey! Its true! It's not like I wanted to hear them jacking off! My human nights were for once a blessing!" Inuyasha said._

"_Don't tell me you've never done that?" Kagome said teasingly._

"_Hey!" Inuyasha said attacking her with tickles. _

"_HAHAHA! STOP IT!"_

"_TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK RIGHT NOW!" Inuyasha demanded._

"_AHAHAAA! NO! NEVER!" she said in between her fits of laughter._

"_I SAID TAKE IT BACK!"Inuyasha said again._

_He pinned her to the ground, rendering her helpless against his assault._

"_PLEASE! STOP! HAHAAHAHAA!"_

_When Inuyasha finally stopped, he was on top of her. They were both past the point of blushing when things like that happened after eighteen years of being married, nothing embarrassed them anymore. He simply stared back at her with fond tenderness._

"_I missed you, Kagome. I dreamt of you every night."_

"_So did I. there wasn't a single night that I didn't wish that you were here in my arms." Kagome whispered._

_Inuyasha smiled tenderly and bent forward to give her a passionate kiss. But footsteps intruded the hallways and into Inuyasha's ears._

"_Inuyasha? Kagome?" Miroku called._

"_Dammit Monk!" Inuyasha cursed. Kagome giggled at her husband's frustration. Miroku saw their shadow in a suggestive position and thought the worst. "You guys, you can do that after the party, people are waiting." Miroku said._

"_Shuddup! I can't believe the lecherous monk Miroku is preaching to me about propriety!" Inuyasha said standing up. _

"_Hey, I'm just saying, hold off until after the party and then you can have the whole night to yourselves." Miroku suggested._

"_Let's see you go off to war and then come back and tell me how long I can wait…" Inuyasha grumbled._

"_I'll see you outside." Miroku sighed and turned to leave. When he was gone, Kagome went to the mirror again to fix her hair. "It's okay, Inuyasha, I won't deny you. I know how much you've waited. We'll just do what Miroku said, do our thing after the party."_

"_But how long will the party last?" Inuyasha said._

"_However long you want it to be. If you want them to leave, all you need to do is say the word." Kagome said._

"_Alright." Inuyasha said._

_When they were finally out, everyone turned to them. They cheered for the birthday girl and led her to the table where she sat at the head._

"_Happy birthday, Lady Kagome! And congratulations to Inuyasha for a safe and triumphant return from the battlefield!" Rikichi said. The crowd cheered again and passed around the sake._

"_oooh! Sake for me too?" Meimei asked reaching for the sake bottle._

"_No Meimei! This is for adults!" Itaru said._

"_Yeah! Adults like me!" Shippo said grabbing the sake bottle. He poured a bit into his drinking saucer. _

"_I couldn't wait to be able to drink alcohol!" Shippo said as he gulped down the light drink._

"_awww! Why do grownups always get to do the fun stuff!" Meimei groaned._

"_Don't worry about it, Meimei! You will be grown soon enough. But don't rush things, enjoy being young." Shippo said._

"_uggh! That's what everyone says! What's so good about being young anyways? Everyone is always telling you what to do, you can't do anything, and everyone picks on you!" Meimei complained._

"_Believe me; I know how that feels…" Shippo said under his breath._

_Dinner was served and platters were sat at the table. There was grilled carp, soba noodles, plenty of pickled vegetables and Oden. _

"_This all looks so delicious!" Kagome exclaimed._

"_I just hope there is enough for everyone!" Miroku said._

"_Oh there's plenty! I just wish we could have had the shekinah!" Sango said._

"_DID SOMEONE SAY SEKIHAN?!" said Jun the chef carrying a gigantic pot_

_They whole crowd cheered and crowded around the pot and served themselves. There was plenty of music and dancing and gift giving. Kagome received plenty of livestock, since the villagers lacked in money. And the night was perfect, not too hot, and not too cold. The moon was half full and everyone was content. After a few hours, the guests started saying their farewells. Soon only, Shippo, Miroku, Sango and their children remained._

"_That was delicious!" Inuyasha said patting his stomach. _

"_That Jun can really cook!" Miroku said._

"_Yeah, and I'm so glad he was able to prepare the sekihan in time!" Sango said._

"_Thank you guys for all of this. It was perfect." Kagome said._

"_Anything for you Kagome." Shippo said. "None of this would have been possible without you!" _

"_That's true, Kagome. You had a hand in all of our lives. You are the glue that holds us together." Sango said._

'_oh you guys, stop it!" Kagome said bashfully. Inuyasha grunted, "Well, it's only because you stuck your nose into everyone's business!" _

"_heh, remind me next time when you're pinned to a tree not to bother…" Kagome said._

"_Mama, what do you mean 'next time'?" Meimei asked._

"_Yeah, and what's all this talk about what happened eighteen years ago? That's all the village ever talks about, how you saved them all from something…"_

"_Yes father, they say the same thing about you and mother." Hiro said._

"_Wait, hold on a second—you guys haven't told them anything!?" Shippo said, almost spitting out his sake._

"_Well…" Kagome began._

"_It's just that…" Sango said._

"_I guess we never got around to it!" Miroku said._

"_You have got to be kidding me!" Shippo said smacking his head. "Not even you Inuyasha?! I would have thought at least you would have gloated all across the countryside about how you helped defeat Naraku!" Shippo said._

"_Well, maybe _

_I'm a little more humble than you thought!" Inuyasha hissed. "and besides, when Kagome came back and after we married, I was too happy to let those terrible memories ruin the joy that I felt. And I guess is sort of put it all to the back of my mind."_

"_I suppose the same thing happened to us. I was so ready to move on with my life, so ready to settle down and start a family with Sango that I just wanted to leave the past in the past. Naraku was dead and I wanted him to stay that way; even in my memories." Miroku concurred. _

"_Wow, you guys are great…not even telling your own sons about your amazing conquests!" Shippo sneered hoping to get a rise out of them._

"_Well, I guess it's now or never, eh Inuyasha?" Miroku said._

"_Yeah. You wanna tell the story? You're good at that kind of stuff." Inuyasha said._

"_Why thank you, I would be honored." Miroku cleared his throat. The children gathered around the monk with big anticipating eyes._

"_This story spans across time and space, so it does not have a start or an end because it is still being written. But I will start the best way I can. 71 years ago, before me or Sango or Kagome were born, Inuyasha sought what was known as the shikon no tama, or the sacred jewel. This jewel was created by the ancient priestess Midoriko when she battled a legion of demons. This jewel was able to grant any wish to its possessor, so therefore many people both human and demon sought it. most of the seekers of the sacred jewel were men driven by greed and bloodlust. A property of the jewel was that it could pick up the positive or negative energy of its surroundings. And because of this, the sacred jewel was entrusted to the priestess named Kikyo. Your father went after the jewel and intended to kill Kikyo if he had to, but she proved to be too strong for him. He tried and tried to retrieve the jewel from her, but Kikyo always managed to fend him off; she did not have the heart to kill him. Eventually, they fell in love with each other and Kikyo came up with the plan of using the sacred jewel to make Inuyasha a human. Doing this would cause the sacred jewel to disappear and release Kikyo from her duties so that she could live her life as an ordinary woman and marry Inuyasha. But there was another who had eyes for Kikyo—a bandit named Onigumo. This Onigumo was badly injured and Kikyo was charged to take care of him. Although he was badly wounded, that did not stop him from lusting after Kikyo. Out of his desire to be with Kikyo, he summoned a multitude of demons to devour his body and create him anew. Onigumo was reborn as the half demon called Naraku…"_

"_So that's the guy papa was talking about earlier!" Meimei said._

"_The very one. But this new, reborn Onigumo was not the same. This Onigumo was evil incarnate. His twisted thoughts and demonic energy caused him to turn into a terrible monster. Onigumo's original desire was to have Kikyo, but it became twisted and corrupt. So it was now Naraku who sought the sacred jewel. So he disguised himself as Inuyasha and attacked Kikyo and stole the sacred jewel. He then put the sacred jewel back in the shrine and disguised himself as Kikyo and did the same to Inuyasha. Inuyasha, feeling that he had been betrayed, went to get the sacred jewel himself. The injured Kikyo, who still thought that it was Inuyasha who attacked her, shot Inuyasha with an arrow and pinned him to a tree. _

"_You mean, the same tree in the forest?" Ami said._

"_Correct. After that final act, she knew her death was at hand and told her younger sister to burn the sacred jewel with her body so that it would disappear from this world. However, Inuyasha did not die. He was put into a deep sleep and was sealed there for fifty years, destined for an eternal and empty sleep."_

"_What a mean lady, to do that to my daddy!" Meimei said."_

"_Don't be so quick to judge, Meimei. She had no idea that it was Naraku and not your father." Kagome said._

_Inuyasha looked at Kagome in surprise. She was defending Kikyo?_

"_Now, listen carefully, this part becomes a bit confusing. Let's jump…let's see…how many years was it, Kagome?" Miroku asked.._

"_Five hundred." Kagome answered, helping Sango gather the dishes._

"_Yes, that's right. Eighteen years ago, Kagome falls into a well in her shrine on this exact same day and is transported five hundred years in the past…"_

"_Whoa whoa whoa! You just said that it was eighteen years ago!" Itaru said._

"_Yes, that is true. But your mother is not of this era. She was born, or should I say, will be born in five hundred years. But the bone eaters' well made of the same bark as the sacred tree in the forest, transported her back in time. This occurred eighteen years ago. Do you get it now?" Miroku explained._

"_ughhh… so much information…I'll get it in a minute…" Itaru said, holding his head._

"_When your mother was rescued from being attacked by a demon, she discovered that she was the reincarnation of Kikyo and that the sacred jewel was inside of her body. Unfortunately, the demon who was after her before came for her once more, looking for the sacred jewel. She ran into the forest where your father was still sealed to a tree, but the spell on him was weakened because of her presence. Out of fear and desperation, Kagome released Inuyasha from his seal and he killed the demon. While trying to figure out what to do with the jewel, Kagome accidentally shattered the jewel into a thousand tiny pieces, so Inuyasha and Kagome were commissioned to search for them and put the jewel back together."_

"_Wow, really?! How did they find them all?!" Yui asked._

"_It was not an easy task. And there were demons who were still after the shards. Remember, the sacred jewel was a very powerful thing. Even the shards contained great power in themselves. Along the way, they met Shippo who was orphaned by two thunder demons, Sango whose village of demon slayers was destroyed by Naraku and yours truly, who was cursed by the same demon with a wind tunnel that could suck up anything in its path."_

"_WHOA! You had a wind tunnel in your hand!? Let me see!" hiro said, running up to his father and grabbing his hand. Ami and Yui did the same thing._

"_Oh kids! It's not there anymore!" Miroku chuckled._

"_Aww!" they groaned._

"_It took us about a year to locate the pieces. Unfortunately, Naraku was clever and was able to claim all of them. When the last shard had merged with the rest, he possessed tremendous power. The final battle was bloody and intense, but we were finally able to kill Naraku."_

"_WOW! THAT'S SO COOL! I wish I could have been there!" Itaru said._

"_What an amazing story!" Meimei said._

"_But wait—I'm not finished. Before Naraku died, he made a wish on the sacred jewel. He wished that kagome would be sucked into the sacred jewel and be forced to battle the demons inside of it for all eternity—"_

_The children gasped in horror. Kagome smiled at their surprise._

"_I think you can take the story from here, Kagome. You know this part better than anyone." Miroku said._

"_Oh alright. When I was sucked into the jewel, I lived in an illusion for three days. I lived in this sort of dream world where I was back in my own era. I went to school, I did the things that I would normally do, having no idea that none of it was real. But I had no memory of the feudal era and my friends until I looked at the sacred tree. That moment, I remembered everything and woke up from the dream. When I awoke, I was in this deep and tremendous darkness. There I saw the priestess Midoriko battling the mass of demons as she was two hundred years ago when the jewel was created. The sacred jewel told me that Naraku made a wish that would damn me to the same fate as midoriko and that the only way for me to escape was to make a wish that would take me back home. I was so afraid that I would be stuck in the darkness forever. But I held on to the hope that Inuyasha would come and save me. the jewel tried to convince me otherwise, but I wouldn't give up. Sure enough, Inuyasha came for me and I was so happy. Then, I realized what wish I should make, one that would end the struggle and destroy the sacred jewel. I wished for the jewel to disappear forever."_

"_Wow! Really?! You must have been so frightened, Kagome!" Ami gasped._

"_How did you know that was the right wish?!" Yui asked. _

"_I just knew. It's just one of those things that you just know when you know, like love…" Kagome said squeezing Inuyasha's hand. "I was trapped three days in the darkness of the sacred jewel. During that time, the well on my side of time and the well here had disappeared. My mother, grandfather and my brother were scared that they would never see me again. But when the jewel was destroyed, the well reappeared. I was so happy to see my family again. But before I could thank Inuyasha, he was pulled back into the well and the well shut the door of time once more." Kagome said sadly._

_Everyone watched her intently, with saddened expressions on their faces._

"_Three years passed after that. I was able to finish my schooling, and all of my friends planned for the future. But for me, I couldn't forget about Inuyasha or the friends I made here. For me, a future without Inuyasha was not a future at all. The day I graduated, I went to the well and cried. I wanted to be with Inuyasha so much. I loved him and I wished that I could see him just one more time to tell him how much I loved and missed him. The well sensed my overwhelming desire to see him again and opened once more. I knew that this would be my last opportunity at happiness. I told my mother, brother and grandfather goodbye for the last time, and I jumped into the well. When I emerged from the well, there he was, waiting for me, like he always had…" Kagome said softly. Tears began to well up in her eyes, Inuyasha caught this and wiped them away. This made kagome cry even more. She turned to him as he embraced her tightly. _

"_Thank you Inuyasha. For waiting for me. thank you for always being there for me." she whimpered.  
"shhhhhhhhh….." Inuyasha said tenderly. "Don't cry, Kagome."_

"_I'm sorry. It's just that, every time I think of that time that we were separated, how lonely you must have been, it just makes me…"_

"_Don't think about it, okay? It's your birthday, Kagome. You aren't supposed to be crying." Inuyasha said._

"_I know. But those years we were apart, the life I led was so dull and empty. All the things that everyone at my school worried and talked about, seemed so worthless. I just couldn't handle it. boys at school asked me out repeatedly, but I knew I couldn't move on. None of them could compare to you, Inuyasha."_

"_That's so romantic…" Ami and Yui said._

"_Stop that right now, Kagome. We are together now, and we even have two kids. That's all that matters." Inuyasha said._

_The group was completely silent under the sobering moment. Kagome wiped away her tears and smiled._

"_Well kids, that's what happened!" _

"_So is that how you and father started the whole demon slaying business?" Hiro asked._

"_yup." Inuyasha said._

"_Speaking of demon slayings, Inuyasha, before you returned, we had a commission from a land lord in the south that said his palace was being haunted by spirits. It has gotten so bad, that his servants are becoming possessed and are trying to kill him. I know you just got back from war, but I just thought I would bring it up…" Miroku said._

"_Keh! War schmoor! I don't need to rest! Let's take care of it first thing in the morning." Inuyasha declared._

"_But papa!" Meimei whined. Kagome gave him a disappointed look, her hopes of having Inuyasha home for a while, dashed._

"_Don't worry. We will be back before you know it, I promise." He said, winking at Kagome. Kagome smiled, but did not restore her hopes of spending time with her beloved husband._

"_Hey, Itaru! How about you come with us? You could use the practice!" Inuyasha said._

"_REALLY?! MY FIRST DEMON SLAYING?! DO YOU REALLY MEAN IT?!" Itaru shouted excitedly._

"_Of course I mean it! as long as its alright with your mother." Inuyasha said._

"_Mother, can I please go with them, please please please!?" Itaru pleaded. Kagome paused for a moment and replied, "I don't see why not. It would make for some great father-son bonding time!"_

"_Yes!" Itaru cheered._

"_What about me father?!" Hiro protested._

"_You can go next time, son." Miroku said._

"_Alright…" Hiro moaned._

"_oooooh Itaru is going to slay demons!" Ami purred. "how absolutely dashing!" Yui said saucily. The twins scooted really close to the now nervous boy._

"_Uhhh, hey guys, is it hot to you two?"_

"_Come now you two! You are embarrassing Itaru!" Miroku chuckled. _

"_I wonder where they get that from." Sango grunted._

_They all laughed at them all at Itaru's dismay. Inuyasha and Kagome stood up and excused themselves outside. Hand in hand, they walked quietly beside each other. Kagome leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder and sighed. "I thought we would have more time to ourselves…"_

"_I know." he said. _

"_But why are you leaving again so soon?" Kagome asked._

"_I want to get this over with right away, so that when I come back home,I can relax. And we can take our sweet time…" Inuyasha purred._

"_he turned to her and looked at her with an impudent expression. " I believe you still have one present left…" he whispered taking off his robe. Kagome giggled and kissed him passionately on the lips._

_-_HELL YEAH! I SUMMARIZED THE WHOLE STORY OF IINUYASHA IN LESS THAN 2000 WORDS!

Was a bit long but hey that's okay!

Sorry you guys… a whole lotta chit going on. Im gonna finish this thing. See ya!


	20. Chapter 20: Legends pt 2

Inuyasha Regashi

Dear fanfictioneers (or fanfictioners or whatever…):

I apologize for the terribly long wait for this chapter. I regret to inform you that my faithful friend, strawberry shortcake (my pink netbook) had to be taken to the ICU (aka computer discount) because of a damaged hard drive, and possibly some sort of virus. I was unable to access my files for the longest time and it wasn't until yesterday that I was able to take my files off of the old damaged hard drive and put it on my flash. But I am here now, at the library typing this story for you ( see how devoted I am?) my little friend will be out soon as soon as my mother gets her check and we can get her out with a new internal hard drive and a new windows 7. Thankyou all for your patience with me. I still intend to finish it before summer is over, which means that I have less than 10 days left.

Thanks.

3 GoDdEsS oF tHe AbYsS

LEGENDS PT. 2

_Inuyasha, Itaru and Miroku set out for their next mission before the sun rose. It took them nearly two and a half days to get to their destination. Finding the town was quite difficult, for it was located deep in the mountains. It was quite cold and windy in the tall peaks; the group had not expected to travel in such demanding weather. For Inuyasha and Itaru, it was nothing that they could not handle. Miroku on the other hand, found it difficult to face the biting wind._

"_here Miroku, take this." Inuyasha said giving his fire-rat robe to his friend._

"_Inuyasha…what about you?" Miroku said, chattering._

"_honestly, Miroku? After all that we have been through, you still think that im susceptible to things such as the cold?" Inuyasha scoffed._

"_well, you are half human. Don't forget that." Miroku muttered._

"_keh!" Inuyasha spat._

"_hey pa, to be completely fair, though, I feel a little chilly too…" Itaru said shivering as well.  
"YOU GUYS!_

_When they finally reached the town, it seemed like every other ordinary town. People running here and there, going about their errands like normal. _

"_well, it looks like a pretty normal town to me." Itaru said._

"_don't be fooled, son. There could be a demon roaming around anywhere. You just have to keep your eyes open." Inuyasha said._

_Miroku stopped to ask an old peasant who passed next to them. "excuse me, good sir. Could you tell us where the great house of this town is located?"_

"_why do ye wish to know where it is? There are demons haunting that house! My advice is to stay away from that place!" said the old man._

"_do not worry. We are the demon exterminators that the master of the great house requested." Miroku said._

"_oh! So you are the demon slayers! We have heard many rumors about there being a band of superb demon exterminators called the Musashi slayers; would you happen to them?"_

"_well we are only two out of the four. But I am sure that we will be sufficient enough to slay this demon." Miroku said._

"_good, good, good! I will gladly show you the way!" said the old man._

_The old man led the three to the other side of town, when they reached it, it was empty and quiet._

"_hmmm…I suppose the townspeople heard of the demon haunting the palace and thought it would be best to move away as far as possible." Miroku hypothesized._

"_yes, this is true. I once lived next to the palace, making my living as a potter. But soon, strange things started to happen. Sometimes, I would wake up and see that all my pottery would be broken, and sometimes the fire in my kiln would flare up wildly. Once, I was badly burned, so my son convinced me to come and live with him and his family. Since then, more and more people have moved away from the palace." Explained the old man._

_The three walked on in meditative silence until they stopped a few yards away from the walled palace._

"_this is as far as I can safely take you. None go near the great house in fear that the demon will latch onto one of us. good luck to you!" said the old man._

_The group stopped and observed the palace for a moment. it seemed like any other palace: high, stone walls, and what seemed to be a spacious front yard. But the gate was wide open and it was eerily quiet inside. _

"_well, nothing looks out of the ordinary, other than the gate being open." Itaru said._

"_its quiet. Too quiet…" Inuyasha said._

_Suddenly, a lout shriek pierced the deep silence. The three ran into the palace and saw a woman standing over a broken vase._

"_oh, that was it?" Itaru whined._

"_oh nooo! This vase was worth a fortune! The master will surely be wroth!" moaned the woman. She looked up to see the three standing there. "what art thou doing here, strangers? Do ye not know of the demon haunting this palace?!" said the woman._

"_yes, we have. As a matter of fact, we are the demon exterminators that the master of this house called upon." Miroku explained._

"_oh! So you are the famous Musashi demon exterminators! We have been yearning for your arrival! But i thought that there were four…?" said the woman._

"_we are only two out of the four. And this is my friend's son." Miroku said. _

"_oh!"_

"_before we do anything, tell us when this all started." Inuyasha said._

"_well, this all started a few weeks ago, when my lord went to travel to see his relatives in the west. Upon his return, he was in a hurry to get back to the palace, so he took a short cut through a battlefield…"_

"_a battlefield?" Inuyasha muttered._

"_after he returned, strange things began to happen. The servants became possessed and tried to attack my lord. My only guess is that the spirit or demon haunting this place is after the Glasses of time…"_

"_the glasses of time? What are those?" Itaru asked._

"_I am under oath not to tell you. You see, the lord of this house was charged to keeping the glasses of time. Here in the mountains, it is protected from malicious souls that would want to use them for evil." Explained the woman._

"_well, what are we waiting for? Lets go slay that demon!" Itaru said._

"_lead us to your master." Miroku said._

_The woman ushered them inside, where it was empty and quiet._

"_this is so strange, where did everyone go?" Itaru asked._

"_the majority of the servants here tried to escape the palace, but when they passed the walls, they all died." Said the woman._

"_really? Just by stepping outside of the palace walls?" said Miroku._

"_aye." replied the woman._

"_and yet you didn't?" Inuyasha said._

"_oh me? I have served the master since he was a babe in arms, I would not leave him." Said the woman._

"_hmmmm…." Inuyasha muttered._

_The woman led them to a great hall, with lamps at either side. At the end of the hall, was a door that was plastered with sutras._

"_the master told us that it was perhaps the best if he were sealed inside of the shrine where the Glasses of Time were protected. No one has entered since." Said the woman._

_The woman went up to the door and rapped three times._

"_who goes there?!" commanded a voice from the inside._

"_it is I, master. The demon slayers have arrived." Replied the woman._

"_bid them entrance!" said the lord._

"_first, I must remove these sutras." Miroku said. He began peeling the sutras off of the door. When he was finished, they entered the room where the master sat in the middle of two giant hour glasses. One was white, with vines and flowers winding itselves around it. the opposite one on the left, was black wrapped in thorns. In both of them, red liquid dripped slowly to the bottom._

"_hey, pa…is that blood?" Itaru asked nervously._

"_it looks like it." Miroku said._

"_I am the lord of this house and the keeper of these ancient relics, the Glasses of Time." Said the lord. The lord looked to the servant woman and the woman turned to close the door. When she looked away, she grinned maliciously._

"_what are these Glasses of Time, and what do they do?" Miroku asked._

"_The Glasses of Time are ancient relics created by the gods to keep record of the souls that have passed on. The glass on the right keeps record of the good souls that enter heaven and the glass on the left keeps a record of the evil souls. My family has the responsibility of protecting them. For if they are disturbed, chaos will follow." The lord explained._

"_please tell us, when did you notice a demon or spirit was haunting your house?" Miroku asked._

"_when I returned from a journey to the west visiting my relatives. I wanted to return here as soon as possible. So I thought it would be quicker to go through the Valley of Rain…"_

"_Valley of Rain?" Inuyasha muttered._

"_aye. but when we got there, it turned out to be a demon's battlefield. I was not afraid, so I urged my men to go forward. But I suppose that a vengeful spirit followed us home." Said the lord._

"_well, in that case, I suppose we will have to stay here and wait for the demon to reveal itself." Miroku said._

"_aye. Sara, please prepare a meal for our guests." Said the master._

_The woman did not respond._

"_Sara?"_

_The woman started to chuckle and a demonic aura leaked from her._

"_heh, I guess we don't have to stay for too long!" Inuyasha said._

"_heheheh, you fell right into my trap, Inuyasha. Now I will finally have my revenge!" said the woman. A pair of black wings ripped from out of the woman's back. The woman was enveloped in a red light and reappeared as a tall demon, with black spiky hair and horns protruding out of his head. His skin was a pale green that matched his scaly armor._

"_Inuyasha… I intend on fulfilling my mission. My soul will not rest until you and your brother are dead." Said the demon._

" _Ryukoshi! I thought that you would be happy to see your father again—in hell!" Inuyasha spat, drawing the tetsusaiga_

"_Ryukoshi? Who is that?" Itaru asked._

"_Ryukoshi is the one who sought to wage war on Sesshomaru and his territory. From what Inuyasha tells me, he is the son of Ryukotsusei: the one your grandfather sealed away, and your father killed 200 years afterwards."_

"_yes. I am the son of the great Ryukotsusei, the ruler of the northern lands. He was worshipped by many, feared by all. My father and yours were allies at one time. My father offered yours an opportunity to expand his territory if he would just kill all of the humans in japan. But your father was a sentimental old fool! He refused to kill the humans because he consorted with a human whore. Oh, was that your mother?" Ryukoshi said. Inuyasha only gave a growl as a reply._

"_my apologies. But its no wonder that your clan is dying. It may not seem like it, but your brother is struggling. What is a ruler without his subjects? he is having such a hard time ruling his land, that he had to ask you, a worthless, weak hanyou to help him!" Ryukoshi said._

"_well that's funny, considering I killed you and your 'almighty' father. I guess you're the weak one!" Inuyasha shouted charging at him. He dodged his attack and landed not far from the glasses of time._

"_Itaru! Protect the lord and the Glasses of Time!" Inuyasha commanded._

"_got it!" Itaru said, drawing his sword but nearly dropping it._

_Ryukoshi cut of a tuft of his hair and formed it into a naginata. He swung the weapon and released little orbs of energy that exploded. Itaru dodged the energy orbs, but stumbled and fell on his rear. _

'_I guess he isn't as nimble as his father…that may be a problem…' miroku thought._

_Inuyasha and Ryukoushi clashed and were deadlocked. _

"_why can't you accept defeat? I thought you dragons were supposed to be wise and all that!" inuyasha sneered._

"_listen to you, a little man that is half my age trying to teach me a lesson! It was enough that your worthless son of a bitch father had the audacity to put down the one who put him where he was; but then, having his half breed son take his place and kill my father—IT IS INEXCUSABLE!"_

_Ryukoushi broke through inuyasha's defenses and pushed him back. Itaru charged at ryukoushi and swung wildly at the demon. Ryukoushi dodged his attacks easily and then backhanded the boy. He was knocked back through the wall._

"_itaru! Stay back! He's too powerful!" inuyasha shouted. _

_Miroku stood by protecting the lord mentally cursing himself. 'I guess that losing my wind tunnel wasn't so bad. If I still had it, that demon would be gone by now…' miroku said, looking down at his hand. 'I suppose im going to have to use the powers I already have!'_

_Miroku whipped out a bunch of sutras and threw them at Ryukoushi. They circled around him and paralyzed him. Ryukoushi's eyes glowed red and his fangs grew. _

"_itaru, you wanted practice, now is your chance! Use your crimson star and kill him!" inuyasha shouted._

"_b-b-but I don't know if it will form right!" itaru said._

"_just do it!" inuyasha commanded._

"_alright!" itaru said. He concentrated the flow of demonic energy into his sword until the cracks in the sutasaiga glowed red. He cut the air in a star formation, forming red beams in front of him. He whipped the sword around the image and cried "CRIMSON STAR!" the star tore through the air and grew in size. But Ryukoushi was beginning to break through the barrier. When he did, the sutras burned and a wave of demonic energy and dispersed the crimson star._

"_what?!" _

"_damn! He broke through at the last second!" inuyasha cursed. _

"_you think that your little runt son can destroy me?! Don't get so cocky!" Ryukoushi charged at itaru at a blinding speed. He grabbed the boy by the neck and choked him hard, digging his razor sharp claws into his neck. Blood began to leak out of his neck and onto Ryukoushi's hand as Itaru let out a choked gasp._

"_how fitting, I can mingle your blood with my sake and eat your father's heart for dinner! Inuyasha, are you prepared to watch your son die before you?!" Ryukoushi threatened._

"_LET GO OF MY SON!" inuyasha commanded. He slashed at Ryukoushi , but dodged him. Itaru's eyes closed and felt his body become cold and limp._

"_heheh, it looks like his grandfather will be seeing him sooner than his son will! What a charming family reunion that will be!" suddenly, Ryukoushi felt a grip on his arm. it was itaru, emitting strong doses of spiritual energy. The place where Itaru's skin and Ryukoushi's made contact, caused Ryukoushi's skin to erode. Then a blast of energy exploded between the two, knocking them in opposite directions. Ryukoushi into the wall and itaru into the black glass of time. The glass of time tipped and began to topple over. _

"_NO! YOU MUSTN'T LET THE GLASSES OF TIME FALL! GREAT CALAMITY WILL BEFALL US!" said the lord._

_Inuyasha rushed over to the glass and caught it just in time. some of the liquid from the bottom leaked into the top, but otherwise it was safe. _

"_inuyasha! Itaru!" miroku cried._

"_well, it looks like we'll have to take this outside; its getting a little crowded in here, don't you think, Ryukoushi?" inuyasha suggested._

"_I've done what I needed to do here,so im afraid that I should postpone our little rendezvous. My sincerest apologies, but rest assured, inuyasha: your head will be a trophy for the hall of my ancestors!" Ryukoushi said._

"_Don't tell me you're running away!?" inuyasha said, running after the demon. Unfortunately, he disintegrated before his eyes and vanished._

"_damn that overgrown, yellow bellied lizard!" inuyasha spat._

"_itaru! Are you alright?" miroku said, crouching over itaru, who began to regain consciousness. _

"_what happened? Did we beat Ryukoushi?" itaru asked._

"_no, he got away." Miroku said. _

"_ughhh…uncle wont be happy when he hears about this…" itaru moaned._

"_thank you so much, my good sirs! I had no idea that the demon had inhabited the body of my dear nursemaid! Now I can finally live in peace, for a time at least." Said the lord._

"_sir, you said that great calamity would follow if the Glasses of time were disrupted. Do you remember what actually would happen should this occur?" miroku asked._

"_unfortunately, I do not know. My nursemaid was the only remaining one who knew what would happen if the Glasses of time were disrupted. Now that she is no more, and all of the other servants are dead, there is no one who knows. She was going to tell me what would happen when I arrived home, but when that demon haunted the palace, I suppose she simply forgot about it…" said the lord._

"_hmmm…" miroku mused._

_Later that evening, the three men were sent on their way with a cart full of goods, which were to be split in half between the two men. Inuyasha thought that it would be necessary to see sesshomaru and tell him that their rival Ryukoushi was not dead. When they reached the castle, the guards allowed him entrance. _

"_who goes there?! You had better know that the lord does not see anyone without invitation—" came a familiarly nasally voice. Jaken hopped from the shoji onto the front porch."oh inuyasha, its just you. What do you want!?" squawked jaken._

"_shut up, toad! Im just here to talk to my brother, that's all!" inuyasha spat._

"_well, you're too late! Lord Sesshomaru is not here! Now leave!" jaken commanded._

"_Grrr…why you…" inuyasha growled._

"_little demon, be kind to our visitors." Said a voice from inside. A tall slender figure appeared behind the little demon and revealed Sesshomaru's mother._

"_lady mother!" jaken exclaimed._

"_Tomono." Inuyasha muttered._

"_what have you come here for?" said Tomono._

"_I just came here to give Sesshomaru some bad news, that's all." Inuyasha said._

"_and that would be?" tomono said._

"_its Ryukoushi…he's come back from the dead: with a vengeance. I should have known that a overgrown lizard like him wouldn't go down easily…"_

"_you should know well that any full blooded demon of any caliber wont go down without a fight, inuyasha. But then again, you're just a half demon, I shouldn't be surprised." Said Tomono._

"_so where is sesshomaru?" inuyasha asked._

"_my son and his mate are away to survey the lands, they should be back in two days. But in any case, I will send word to him as soon as possible of Ryukoushi's reappearance." Tomono informed._

"_thanks. That's all I wanted." Inuyasha said. The group turned to leave. _

"_so that is uncle's mother? She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen!" itaru said._

"_I agree. She is quite stunning. But im sure that her looks are not the only things that are good; I sensed an intense amount of demonic energy from her. She is sesshomaru's mother alright…" miroku concurred._

"_yeah, I guess. Lets go home you guys…" inuyasha said._

_When they finally got home, it was dawn the next day. Their families greeted them with open arms and all was well once more. The village was quiet and peaceful, miroku and kagome made their rounds, taking care of the elderly and the sick, sango and her children worked on their chores; inuyasha and itaru helped out around the village as well, doing odd jobs and helping the farmers with their crops. Meimei played with the other children in the meadow. Three days passed since miroku, inuyasha and itaru went to exorcise the mansion in the south, but they kept guard staying aware that one of their enemies were roaming about. _

…_._

_It was late at night, inuyasha and the family were just finishing supper. Kagome cleared away the dishes and put them in a wooden bucket filled with water. _

"_papa, can you tell us how you and mama met again?" meimei asked._

"_meimei! He tells that story all the time! Pa! tell us the story of how you got the tetsusaiga!" itaru said._

"_no! tell my story first!" meimei insisted._

"_no, mine!" itaru argued._

"_im not telling any stories tonight, its time for you both to go to bed!" inuyasha said._

"_awww!" meimei whined._

"_but why me, pa? im fifteen! I don't need to go to bed so early!" itaru insisted._

"_nope, both of you in bed now. Im not going to say it again." Inuyasha commanded._

"_okay…" they both moaned._

_The two obeyed and went to sleep._

_Only inuyasha and kagome were left in the room, the fire in the fire pit flickering. Inuyasha sat in silence with his eyes closed as kagome cleaned up the dishes._

"_kagome, tell me something…" inuyasha began._

"_yes?" kagome said_

"_do you miss being home?" inuyasha asked._

"_what are you talking about? I am home!" kagome said.  
"you know what I mean! Do you miss being in your era? If you could have done things differently, would you?" inuyasha said._

_Kagome thought for a minute and sighed. "inuyasha, why are you asking me this? I give you the same answer every time." Kagome said._

"_well would you or not!?" inuyasha insisted._

"_Inuyasha!" _

_There was a moment's silence between them._

"_inuyasha, why would I ever want to go back to the way things were? I have too much here to be thankful for. I have more friends than I could ever ask for, two beautiful children and the greatest husband ever. After living with you guys for a while, I couldn't go back to my time!" _

"_but don't you miss it there? It has so much to offer, you can cook food in an instant, you have water running out of pipes, and you have these magical boxes that have people inside of them! I know I would miss it." Inuyasha said._

"_I do miss it, but that's to be expected; I was born and raised there. Of course I miss the conveniences of modernity, like doing the dishes for example…" kagome explained._

"_but you know something else? If I were stuck back in my time, I would miss you so much more; that already happened. The three years, I couldn't get you off of my mind. Its funny, because sometimes I would look out my window, and pray that you would be there staring at me with those big eyes of yours. Everyone back home was so petty and shallow. None of them really had anything worthwhile to say. so I guess what im trying to say is, if I could have it any other way, inuyasha, I wouldn't. because you're the best thing that has ever happened to me." Kagome said._

_Inuyasha stared down at the floor at kagome's explanation. After being married 18 years to his beloved wife, he still felt insecure. That she would leave him and their children because she missed her home too much. But that was not so. Every time he asked her, she gave him the same firm answer. He resolved in his mind, that he would keep it that way. Making sure that she was happy there with him, protecting her, providing for her and doing everything he could to be a good father. Kagome scooted over to her husband and hugged him from behind. _

"_our wedding vows…'til death do us part, I meant it. Someone is going to have to kill me if we are going to be separated." Kagome whispered._

"_hah. Then they'll have to do that over my dead body too!" inuyasha said._

_Inuyasha stood up, offering his hand to help her too. They went to bed, passionately kissing the night away. _

_Far in the distance, a familiarly playful chuckle rang like a tingling bell. _

"_its been a long time since we were here, eh friend?"_

"_yessssss I miss my old hunting grounds…" came a hiss._

"_it seems that little girl and our little dog friend are married. And what more? They have children! Oh how lovely! I will surely have fun taking their lovely little heads!" said the first voice._

"_now now ladies, we have to be patient. The master told us that he wanted to take the final blow." said a third voice._

"_oh alright…but he doesn't mind if I just take inuyasha's hair, does he?" said the first voice._

" _if you do, don't you dare damage those adorable little dog ears of his! Those are all mine!" said another voice._

"_is everyone in position?" said the third voice._

"_yes." Said the fourth voice._

"_excellent. Now yura and mistress centipede, do your worst!" said the third voice._

"_yes lady Urasue…" said Yura and Mistress Centipede._

"_oh I cant wait to see the look on inuyasha's face when he sees us!" said the fourth voice. The person in which the voice belonged to stepped into the moonlight and revealed jakotsu of the band of seven, grinning a devious smile._

…

_Down at the home village, miroku, sango and their family were sleeping soundly. A person ran down the middle of the street towards their house. There were three raps at the door, waking miroku and sango._

"_who is it?" miroku moaned._

"_it is I, kira! My father is being attacked by a demon! Please come and help!" miroku and sango sprang into action and dressed. Ami and Yui stirred to see their parents hastily dressing._

"_Ami and Yui, stay here and look after things. We will be back." Sango said hurriedly grabbing her hiraikotsu._

_They ran outside after the girl leading them out of the village. Soon enough, they were far away from the village and still no sign of the demon._

"_Kira, where is he?" sango said._

_No answer came from the young woman._

"_kira?" sango called._

_Suddenly, her body collapsed and split open._

"_Kira!" miroku cried._

"_hold on a second miroku," sango said. She walked over to the disintegrated body._

"_Wait…I don't understand…weren't kira and her father supposed to return yesterday?" sango said._

"_yes…but what are they doing out here?" miroku said._

"_then that must mean that they were killed on the way, and kira's body was used as a puppet!"_

"_oh my, you are indeed smart!" said a voice._

_Mistress centipede emerged from the forest with Urasue on her back. _

"_who are you?!" miroku demanded. _

"_I am Urasue, and this is my dear friend Mistress Centipede." Said Urasue._

"_How do you do?" hissed Mistress Centipede._

"_Urasue… isn't that the woman that inuyasha said revived Kikyo?!" Sango said._

"_the very one! Oh you are smart! Unfortunately, I have to put you all to rest now. Too bad your intelligence was wasted on you filthy humans!" Urasue said._

"_what do you want?! Why have you come back from the land of the dead?!" miroku shouted._

"_oh no reason. We were just told to kill you and the village." Said Urasue._

"_the village…OH NO! MIROKU!" Sango shouted._

"_DAMN! It was a trap!" miroku spat._

"_we were also told to entertain you as you watched your precious village burn!" said Urasue; behind her, was a vast army of clay warriors._

"_damn! What are we going to do?!" Sango said._

"_there is no point in trying to escape! You are completely surrounded!" _

"_DAMN IT ALL! I WISH I STILL HAD MY WIND TUNNEL!" miroku cursed._

"_don't worry, inuyasha will come!" sango said._

_Back in inuyasha's home, inuyasha and kagome were sleeping together. Inuyasha's ears pricked up and sniffed the air. It sniffed again and he jerked up, completely awake. Kagome, feeling the sudden movement, woke up and saw her husband running out of their room, half naked. She slowly got up and was almost to the door when she heard inuyasha's voice._

"_KAGOME!" inuyasha bellowed. He ran back into their house and grabbed his clothing and the tetsusaiga. _

"_inuyasha! Whats going on?!" kagome asked._

"_THE VILLAGE! GET DRESSED AND LETS GO!" inuyasha commanded._

_Kagome redressed and grabbed her bows and arrows. Itaru and Meimei, hearing the commotion groggily peered out of the shoji, meimei clutching to her older brother's kimono._

"_whats going on out here?" itaru groaned._

"_itaru and meimei! Get dressed and come on! The village is on fire!" inuyasha commanded._

"_WHAH?!" itaru shrieked. _

_When the family was all prepared, they raced outside. They looked to the village and saw it in an inferno, smoke billowing from the tops of the houses. They raced down to the village._

_In the village, on top of a burning house, stood Renkotsu of the band of seven. He chuckled to himself, watching the sea of flames and the villagers wildly running in fear._

"_nice job, Renkotsu! Inuyasha will sure smell that and come running!" Jakotsu said._

"_even if I die once more, I will be satisfied in knowing that I helped bring inuyasha to his knees." Renkotsu said._

"_what do you mean if you die once more?! You don't honestly think that inuyasha will kill you?!" Jakotsu said._

"_Jakotsu, we don't have the help of the shikon jewel anymore, remember? That means that our powers are what they were before we were killed the first time."_

"_well that sucks." Jakotsu said._

"_we were told to set the village afire and retreat. That's it." Renkotsu said._

"_That is so unfair! I wanted to see inuyasha again!" Jakotsu complained._

"_well, you will see him again if we just follow orders! So shut up and wait!" Renkotsu snapped._

"_screw orders! I want to see him now!" Jakotsu said jumping off of the building._

"_ugh…cant you control yourself until the end? You aren't the only one who wants a piece of him!" Renkotsu grumbled._

_Inuyasha and the family arrived to see everyone in the village running for their lives out of the village._

"_Rikichi! What happened here?! Inuyasha asked._

"_Demons! They're burning up the whole town!" said the middle aged man._

"_who is burning up the town?!" inuyasha demanded._

"_a firebreathing man and a feminine looking fellow wielding a snake-like weapon!" he said._

"_a firebreathing man…a feminine looking guy with a serpentine weapon?" kagome thought out loud._

"_he could only mean two people…damn! I thought I would never see their disgusting faces again!" inuyasha spat._

"_itaru and meimei, help everyone to safety!" kagome said._

"_okay!" meimei said._

"_im coming with you!" itaru said._

"_no itaru! Its too dangerous!" inuyasha said._

"_well, well, well. Its been soooo long inuyasha." Said a voice behind him._

"_I had a feeling it was you, Jakotsu!" inuyasha spat._

"_I missed you sooo much inuyasha! When I came alive again, I couldn't contain myself!" jakotsu said. He looked over to the children and squealed._

"_oooooooooooh! You made more!? Oh this is a treat! They look just like you, inuyasha! I want the older one!" _

"_you wont touch a hair on their heads!" kagome said._

"_oh you again. Inuyasha! I cant believe you actually like this little bug! You were supposed to be my toy!" Jakotsu said._

"_ive had enough! What is it with you people and not staying dead!" inuyasha said, whipping out tetsusaiga and unleashing a wind scar. _

"_yaaay! A fight!" jakotsu cheered._

"_itaru and meimei! Do what we told you!" kagome commanded._

"_ugh! Okay!" itaru said._

_Kagome saw Ami, Yui and Hiro escaping from the village without their parents._

"_Ami! Yui! Hiro! Where are your parents?!" kagome called._

"_they went out of the village to slay a demon! They told us they would be back!" Ami said._

"_oh no! this was all a trap! You three get away from this village as far as possible!" kagome commanded._

"_okay!" they said._

_Jakotsu and inuyasha were battling in the middle of the burning village, where the huts were collapsing around them. _

"_inuyasha, I did miss you in the underworld. My soul moaned to have you…now I shall not waste my second chance!" jakotsu said whipping his sword._

"_damn you! Tell me! Who revived you?! Was it Naraku again?!" inuyasha demanded._

"_oh Naraku? He was revived like the rest of us! I sure didn't know you had so many people who wanted your head on a silver platter, inuyasha!"_

"_what do you mean the rest of us?! You mean, there are more?!" inuyasha asked._

"_that's right! And im sure that we will all have our fill of fun! Now dance!" Jakotsu commanded whipping out his sword._

"_grrr! Damn you jakotsu!" inuyasha roared lifting his sword to unleash another wind scar._

"_nah ah ah…one more step and your pretty little wife will be decapitated!" said a light playful voice._

"_wait, I know that voice…!" inuyasha mumbled. He turned around to see kagome trapped, arms spread out and grimacing. _

"_hehe. Hello again, inuyasha. I missed you and your luxurious hair! And I will have it." Yura said landing on a strand of hair._

"_Yura of the hair?! That cant be!" inuyasha said._

"_inuyasha!" kagome moaned, blood trickling from her neck from an invisible thread._

"_ugh! Damn it all!" inuyasha cursed._

"_so whats it gonna be? Kill me and kill the girl too, or come with us quietly?" Jakotsu suggested._

"_now way in hell! And who exactly are you bringing me to?" inuyasha demanded._

"_you will see if you come with us! Now what will it be, hm?" Yura said._

"_inuyasha, forget about me! Just do it!" kagome choked._

"_no, kagome! Im not leaving you!" inuyasha said. "damn! What am I going to do?! I cant attack Jakotsu, or Yura, her threads of hair will slit her throat before I can get close!"_

"_make your choice, inuyasha!" jakotsu said._

"_you bastard!" inuyasha seethed._

_Suddenly, a great wind swept over them, a giant leaf appearing with it._

"_FOX INFERNO!"_

_Shippo landed in the middle of the battlefield with a long scythe. The strands of hair burned and broke, releasing kagome from her captor. Kagome fell to the ground, grasping her neck._

"_shippo! Its you!" kagome gasped._

"_yeah! I saw the village on fire from my den and I came running! I knew a fire this, you guys would need my help!" shippo explained._

"_well better late than never!" inuyasha sneered._

"_wait a minute? Are you that little kitsune fox from before? You are so adorable now!" Jakotsu squealed._

"_shut your face! I wasn't interested then, im not interested now!" shippo shouted._

"_oh yes! I do agree! You are quite the attractive one! And your hair is a very luxurious color! As red as the sunset! Ill add it to my collection!" Yura said._

"_not a chance!" shippo shouted, charging at Yura._

"_inuyasha! You take care of Jakotsu! Ill take care of this woman!" Shippo said._

"_don't need to tell me twice!" inuyasha shouted, charging at jakotsu._

"_now this is what im talking about! Come on!" Jakotsu said._

_The four battled as kagome tried to get an aim at yura or Jakotsu. 'if they would stand still for a minute, I could at least kill one of them!' kagome thought._

_Itaru and Meimei were running in the forest, seeing that the rest of the villagers made it out alright. They were helping an elderly couple, carrying them on their backs._

"_bless you children! You didn't need to help us elderly folk!" said the old woman._

"_its no matter! We need to make sure you are out of the way!" Itaru said._

"_but big brother, where will they go?" meimei asked._

"_they'll take shelter in the mountains, they will be safe for a while—"_

_When itaru looked up, he saw more villagers running in the opposite direction, panic written on their faces._

"_whats going on now?!" itaru said._

"_a demon! A metal demon! Run for your lives!" said one man._

"_a metal demon?!" itaru and meimei thought aloud. "here! Take them!" said itaru, handing the two elderly people to another villager running in the opposite direction._

_Suddenly they heard a rumbling and what sounded like chains clanking together. From the forest emerged a gigantic machine-like creature. Standing on it, was renkotsu._

"_who are you!?" itaru demanded, drawing his sword._

"_heh, does it matter? If you don't get out of our way, our names wont be much use will it?" Renkotsu said._

"_ghesh!" said Ginkotsu, the metal demon._

"_heh, if you can touch us!" meimei shouted. She threw her chakrams at Ginkotsu. Ginkotsu launched metal disks out from his shoulders as well._

"_heh! So you can do that trick too? That's cool! I can practice using my chakrams with you!"_

"_ghesh! Don't be fooled little girl, unlike your so called weapons, I can slice you up piece by piece!" ginkotsu sneered._

"_so, you are his son? What a pleasant treat this is! Ill kill you and watch your father die as well!" Renkotsu threatened._

"_you smell like oil and smoke; are you the one that burned the village?!" itaru accused._

"_why yes I am! I had fun watching those flames lap up those puny little huts and watching the people running out of them like little ants!" Renkotsu confessed chuckling._

"_you evil son of a…I'll kill you!" itaru shouted._

_Meimei was still battling ginkotsu, jumping on his metal disks and on top of him. Renkotsu noticed the little girl and jumped back. _

"_you little brat!" Renkotsu shouted. 'damn! She's fast!'_

"_why did you burn our village you big fat meanie?!" Meimei shouted._

"_heh, we were just following orders! It wasn't our idea! Though, we did like the idea of helping to kill your father!" Renkotsu said._

"_Ghesh!" Ginkotsu confirmed._

"_wait, father?!" itaru said._

"_yes, he will be to his knees very soon." Renkotsu said._

"_what relation do you have with our father, huh?" meimei demanded._

"_oh relation? Well, me and my friend here had the pleasure of fighting him a long time ago. We nearly killed your mother and your friends doing it!" Renkotsu said._

"_no way!" meimei gasped._

"_Ghesh! it was quite interesting, watching your father to keep all three of his only friends alive." Ginkotsu said._

"_ugh! Well, we'll make sure that it doesn't happen again! Prepare to meet your maker!" itaru said, whipping out the Sutasaiga. It swirled with demonic and spiritual energy and its cracks glowed red._

'_hmmm..that sword. It swirls with demonic and spiritual energy…this kid…' Renkotsu thought. 'I guess we are going to have to end this quickly. But not without parting gifts…'_

"_Ginkotsu! Perhaps we should move out!" Renkotsu suggested._

"_ghesh?" Ginkotsu said._

"_cowards!" meimei shouted._

"_well, its been real nice, meeting our old enemy's brats. But if we are lucky, we will meet again!" Renkotsu said."oh, but we have a gift for your father! Ginkotsu?" _

"_ghe-he-he-heshhh!" ginkotsu positioned a cannon towards the sky._

"_what the heck is he doing?!" itaru said._

"_INUYASHAAAA! THIS IS FOR YOU!" Renkotsu shouted._

_A loud explosion followed as a large ball was shot into the air. It tore through the air._

"_what is that?!" Itaru asked._

"_its just a little present for inuyasha. I promise he will get a big bang out of it! Hahahahaahaaa!" Renkotsu laughed maniacally._

"_oh no! papa!" meimei shouted._

"_come on, meimei!" itaru commanded. They both followed the giant ball, running as fast as they could._

_Shippo stood over Yura's dead body and chuckled to himself. "heh, she wasn't even worth it."_

"_Shippo! Make sure Itaru and meimei are alright!" kagome said._

"_alright!" shippo said, starting towards the forest. But he was stopped by the sound of a sharp whistling sound. He looked up in the air and saw a large sphere flying in the air._

"_whats that...? wait a minute!" shippo remembered eighteen years ago, a similar looking sphere flying through the air when inuyasha was trying to get kagome, sango and miroku to safety._

"_OH NO! INUYASHA! WATCH OUT!" Shippo yelled._

_Jakotsu looked up to see the same thing headed straight for them._

"_oh shit! Damn it, Ginkotsu! You could wait until I got out of here!" Jakotsu spat. "sorry, inuyasha! Jakotsu turned on his heels and sprinted away._

"_come back here, you disgusting bastard!" inuyasha spat._

_The sphere landed in front of inuyasha with a loud thud. _

"_what the hell is that?!" inuyasha said._

"_kagome saw the sphere and knew immediately what it was._

"_inuyasha! Watch out!" kagome said._

"_hmmm…it didn't explode…maybe it's a dud!" inuyasha said about to kick it._

"_INUYASHA! NOOOOOO!" Kagome screamed._

"_WHAT?!" Inuyasha shouted._

"_IT'S A TIME BOMB! GET AWAY FROM THAT THING! IT'LL EXPLODE ANY SECOND!" kagome warned._

"_whats a bomb?!" inuyasha asked._

"_its like an incendiary! Get away from it inuyasha!" kagome warned again._

"_inuyasha just stared at the thing, and heard a small ticking sound from inside of it._

"_INUYASHA!"_

_Inuyasha started to back away from it, and toward kagome. _

"_okay, lets get out of here…" inuyasha said._

_Then, the ticking stopped, followed by a tremendous explosion. Inuyasha pushed kagome to the ground and protected her with his body. Shippo was blown away by the force of the blow. itaru and meimei were near the edge of the village and were blown away as well. Itaru held meimei screaming as they flew through the air. They landed with a thud on the ground back in the forest. Shippo landed next to them._

"_uncle shippo!" meimei said._

"_you guys! We need to get out of here, now!" shippo said, getting up and grabbing them both by the arms. _

"_what about Pa and Mama?!" itaru asked._

"_don't worry about them! Lets get out of here!" shippo reiterated._

_But as soon as they got up to leave, they heard the screeches and shrieks of demons. _

"_damn! The explosion must have disturbed the demons!" shippo cursed._

_Far away from the village, miroku and sango were still battling Urasue's clay warriors._

"_how many more are there?!" sango said._

"_there seems to be no end to them!" Miroku said._

"_hehehe, there are many more than you can possibly handle; how long did you think you two would last?" said Urasue._

_Suddenly they heard a loud explosion coming from the village. The two looked toward it and saw a great pillar of smoke coming from it._

"_OH NO!" miroku gasped._

"_AMI! YUI! HIRO!" Sango screamed._

"_hehe, looks like our good friend did a good job!" Urasue said._

"_what about inuyasha and kagome?!" sango said _

"_you can forget about them. Theyre good as dead now, or close to it!" Urasue said._

"_no! that cant be!" miroku said in disbelief._

_Smoke filled the air as the raging fire consumed the village. The three were running through the forest being chased by the demons. When they arrived at the clearing, they stood in front of the well._

_" Go on! you don't have much time!" said Shippo. _

_"NO! IM NOT LEAVING MY FATHER ALONE!" Shouted Itaru._

_"LOOK KID, DO YOU WANT TO DIE? IF YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SISTER DIE, ALL THAT YOUR FATHER IS FIGHTING FOR WILL BE FOR NOTHING!" the fox demon said._

_"Mama! I want my Mama!" Meimei cried._

_"KID, IM NOT GOING TO ARGUE WITH YOU!" Shippo commanded_

_"BULLSHIT!" Itaru said._

_The demons were rushing out of the forest swimming through the air, their mouths dripping with poisonous saliva anticipating their next kill._

_Then, out of desperation, Shippo turned to Itaru and Meimei, "GET OUTTA HERE!" He yelled as he kicked both of them down the well._

_The children both yelled as they fell down the well, engulfed in a sea of light. The last thing that they heard was a gut wrenching scream._

FINALLY GODDAMMIT!

ENJOY EVERYONE. ITS MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT TO YOU GUYS!

YOU'RE WELCOME!


	21. Chapter 21: Kazuka

Inuyasha Regashi

"so that's what happened?" Kagome said

"how in the world did they come back to life in the first place?" Sango said.

"Itaru, tell me, when you bumped into the glass of time, which one did you bump into, the one on the left or the one on the right?" Myoga asked.

"ummm…the right one?" Itaru said.

"that cant be! How could the Vial of the Good have produced such an effect?! Are you sure that it was the one on the right?" myoga said.

"yeah im sure…right is this way, right?" itaru said pointing left.

Everyone sweat dropped in embarrassment.

"NO! ITS NOT! WAS IT LEFT OR RIGHT?!" Myoga shouted.

"uh im pretty sure that it was on this side though…" itaru said pointing left.

'yup he's inuyasha's son alright…' miroku thought dismally.

"hmmm now that makes more sense…you said that some of the liquid from the bottom leaked from the top, right?" myoga asked.

"yeah, it did. But what does that have to do with anything?" itaru asked.

"everything. Even if the glasses of time are disturbed even in the slightest, there will be terrible adverse effects. People who have died in the last fifty years would come back to life and walk in the land of the living once more." myoga informed.

"so that explains it all!"miroku said.

"so that must mean that…" kagome began

"Naraku is back in their time too!" inuyasha surmised.

"yeah I guess so…" itaru said.

"ugghh! Io thought that I would be done with that creep Jakotsu!" inuyasha shouted. "and its all your fault, you clumsy idiot!"

"who are you calling a clumsy idiot, huh?!" itaru shouted back.

inuyasha yanked him by his tail, rendering quite helpless. inuyasha stared into his eyes with a menacing expression.

"now now, is that any way to talk to your _father_?" inuyasha asked.

itaru's face turned pale and sweated profusely.

"uh oh! itaru is in trouble now!" meimei said.

"now if I remember correctly, you called me quite an unkind name a little while ago. now what was it that you called me? oh yeah! an asshole?" inuyasha said.

itaru gulped nervously. "well, you know, it was a heated moment, and moments like those, you say things you dont mean, right?!" itaru bumbled to explain.

inuyasha raised his hand and brought it down smartly on his rear end.

itaru squeaked at the painful embarrassment of his father's discipline.

"Oh!" the group gasped at inuyasha's gesture.

"thats gotta hurt!" Shippo said.

"no excuses!" inuyasha exclaimed sternly.

*SPANK!*

"what you did was very disgraceful! how dare you talk to me like that! didnt I teach you any respect!?"

*SPANK!*

"itaru hasnt got a spanking since he was eight! this must be really embarrasing." meimei said.

itaru started to whimper as he felt tears come to his eyes.

"...and for that, I will not forgive you!" (that is considered a very harsh thing to say in japan)

*SPANK!*

"WAAAAAHHHH! IM SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I DIDNT MEAN TO SAY THOSE AWFUL THINGS! PLEASE PLEASE FORGIVE ME, PAPA!"

"wow, I didnt know inuyasha was the spanking type!" sango said.

"being spanked in front of your peers is probably the most embarrasing thing that could happen to a boy; especially at the hand of their father."

inuyasha dropped a sobbing itaru on the ground and turned away from him.

"papa..."

"OH SUCK IT UP, WOULD YOU?! ARE YOU A MAN OR ARENT YA?!" Inuyasha demanded.

itaru stopped crying and looked up at his father admiringly.

"papa, you-"

"and dont start calling me that. im not your father, not yet at least." inuyasha said.

"uh...okay..." itaru nodded.

"now this is certainly a problem. how can we help you two?" miroku said.

"yes, how did you two get here in the first place?" sango said.

"oh, we came through the well!"meimei answered.

"well that makes sense, only me and inuyasha can pass through the well." kagome said.

"but thats still a problem, if only you, inuyasha, itaru and meimei can pass through the well, how are you four supposed to defeat our old enemies?" miroku said.

"yes, even if there are the two of both of you, you guys wont stand a chance without all of us there." sango said.

"what are we going to do?" shippo said.

the group stood to think for a moment until a voice from the trees echoed,

"i believe i can be of assistance." a petite figure appeared

a girl stood above them on a tree branch with silvery white hair, golden eyes and dressed in a rich kimono. she jumped in front of the group with impeccable grace.

"who the hell are you supposed to be?!" inuyasha demanded.

"KAZUKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" itaru and meimei said.

"Kazuka? Who is that girl you guys?" shippo asked.

"thats our cousin." itaru said.

"YOUR COUSIN?!" the group shouted.

"that means-" kagome began.

"that this girl is-" sango said.

"there is no other explanation!" miroku said.

"your assuptions are correct. I am Kazuka, princess of the western lands. Daughter of the new Inu no Taisho: Sesshomaru.

"SESSHOMARU'S DAUGHTER?!" the group shouted.

"but who in hell would want to mate with that royal asshole?!" inuyasha exclaimed.

R "you watch your tongue! lord sesshomaru can have whomever he pleases!" said a small voice from Kazuka's shoulder.

"who said that just now?" shippo said.

"Roga? Is that you?" myoga said.

"oh its you myoga. Is been a while, you look as cowardly as ever." roga said.

"smartmouthed as ever I see..."myoga grumbled.

"myoga, who is that?"

"roga and I were the vassals assigned to inuyasha's father and sesshomaru's mother when they were but pups. It cant be that the lady mother is no more?!" myoga asked.

"lady Tomono is alive and well. She resides in the west with sesshomaru and his wife." roga explained.

"his wife..." inuyasha took another whiff towards Kazuka and his eyes widened realizing the other scent laced with sesshomaru's.

"no, it cant be...my brother would never..."

"say, who exactly is your mother Kazuka?" kagome said.

"my mother's name is Rin." Kazuka said simply.

The group froze in shock.

"my brother is a cradle robber?! but she is just a little girl!" inuyasha stuttered.

"lady rin is a child no more! She is the beautiful, graceful lady of the west and the beloved wife of lord sesshomaru!" Roga said.

"but how can that be? I thought that sesshomaru hated humans and hanyous alike!" sango said.

"if my father hated hanyous so much, would he have made a decree stating that anyone found to have harmed a hanyou is a crime punishable by death?" Kazuka said.

"a crime punishable by death? Wow, sesshomaru really has changed!" kagome said.

"you said that there was a way that you could help us, please elaborate." miroku asked.

"but wait, how did you get here in the first place, Kazuka?" meimei asked.

"my grandmother and I discovered what had happened at your village and that you both had been flung back into time. Grandmother lent me her meidou stone to use." Kazuka explained.

"the meidou stone?" myoga said.

"the meidou stone is a stone that can open the portal to the netherworld. When pressed against a sacred tree, it creates a portal through time and space. I was able to walk through and follow you two, so that you both do not do anything to ruin history itself." Kazuka said.

"no one asked you to come and follow us!" meimei said.

"i had no choice. My grandmother had other things to do, and my father surely would have his hands full killing off the reborn. When the two of you are let loose there is no telling what kind of mayhem you will cause." Kazuka said smartly.

"hey! Watch it, you!" meimei warned.

"i am a princess. I have no need to reserve my words to a peasant such as yourself." Kazuka said.

"princess or not, im still a year older than you, you little twit." meimei said, poking her cousin in the head.

"shes sesshomaru's daughter alright..." inuyasha thought.

"you were saying?" miroku interrupted.

"the only way all of you can come back to the past is if you all go through the portal made with the meidou stone." kazuka continued.

"well what are we waiting for?! Lets go!" inuyasha said.

"lead the way, lady Kazuka!" miroku said

Suddenly, they heard a peculiar rumble.

"what was that?" sango asked.

"oh, that was my stomach!" itaru said. I havent eaten since yesterday!" itaru confessed.

"perhaps it is wise that we rest up before we jump into another ordeal like we did yesterday. It seems that this may take a while." sango said.

"im all for that!" kagome said.

"me too!" shippo agreed.

"me three!" meimei echoed.

~0.0~

rin and jaken were sitting by a riverside waiting for sesshomaru to return. Rin was playing in the water, watching the fish swim around her feet.

"haha! There are so many! Could we catch some, master jaken? For later, I mean?" rin asked.

"do you really think lord sesshomaru will let you carry around a dead fish? His nose is incredibly sharp and it will surely disgust him!" jaken rebuked.

"it was just a thought..." rin said. She looked into the river and rememberd the girl that she saw a few nights ago.

"master jaken? Do you have any favorite names?" rin asked.

"what kind of question is that, silly girl?!" jaken spat.

"do you have any favorite names at all, master jaken?" rin asked again.

"hmm...favorite names? I can only think of one, other than my own of course: sesshomaru! yes that is my favorite name! I could say it all day long! Sesshomaru, sesshomaru, sesshomaru, sesshomaru-"*whack!*

jaken was clocked in the head with a rather large stone, leaving a red wound.

"lord sesshomaru! You have returned!" rin cheered.

"rin, you are well, I presume." sesshomaru said in his cool manner.

'I am, lord sesshomaru! Master jaken and I were just thinking of favorite names!" rin said.

Rin stooped down and started drawing in the dirt.

"if I should ever get married, and I have a little girl, I want to name her Kazuka. Dont you think that is a pretty name?" rin said.

"what kind of name is that?!" jaken snapped.

"its a pretty name! and I like it!" rin said defensively.

"we're going." sesshomaru said.

"okay!" rin said, hopping on Ah-Un.

Sesshomaru walked ahead in meditative silence.

'Kazuka, is it?"

well peoples college has started again. its going to be hard to finish this now. but i will. if i dont, it will drive me insane.


	22. Chapter 22:kagome and inuyasha found

Inuyasha regashi

When the group had eaten their fill and stocked up on necessities, they were ready for their next adventure. Kazuka, like her father, was antisocial and stood afar off with Meimei occasionally going to see what she was doing.

"hey Kazu-chan, we have food prepared, you should come and eat something." Meimei said.

"this Kazuka is not hungry." Kazuka said. A peculiar growl escaped from the girl's stomach, betraying her guise.

"your stomach doesn't agree. C'mon, cuz! You need all the strength you can get! We have to save my mama, papa and the western kingdom!" meimei said, grabbing her cousin's arm.

"hmph." Kazuka grunted. The two joined the group sitting around a fire eating their lunch. Kazuka was generous enough to lend money to them to buy food and supplies.

"this is going to be and adventure! Its not as far in the future as kagome's time, but it is the future nonetheless!" miroku exclaimed.

"I wonder what we all look like? Do you think I will have aged a lot?" sango said.

"I know I wont be any different. I haven't aged in the last fifty years!" inuyasha said.

"I wonder how I look? Will I look like mama?" kagome wondered aloud.

"well you will all just have to wait and see!" itaru said.

"so what are we supposed to call you now, ita—er, inuyasha? Since we know your name now and all…" shippo asked.  
"you can call me itaru. That's what everyone back at home calls me."

"Inuyasha and Kiyome." Kazuka said.

"what?" inuyasha, itaru and meimei said looking up at the princess.

"not you, oji-san*. Itoko –san*."

"what is it, Kazuka?" itaru asked.

"if we are finished here, we should be on our way. If we tarry any longer, the reborn will reach the western lands." Kazuka said.

"don't worry, I think my brother can handle it." Inuyasha said unsympathetically.

Kazuka grunted at her uncle's disregard for her father.

"unless, you're worried about him?" itaru said.

Kazuka turned away, hiding her embarrassment.

"that's it isn't it!?" itaru sneered.

'she may be sesshomaru's daughter, but she is Rin's too. And because of that, she is half human. No matter how hard she tries to imitate her father's cold nature, she cant hide the emotions that comes with being half human.' Kagome thought.

"its nothing of the sort. I just told my grandmother that we would be back and I would return the meidou stone to her." Kazuka bluffed.

"well, im ready to go. How about you guys?" sango said

"yeah! Lets do this!" shippo said.

Kazuka led the group deep into the forest near the bone eater's well. They stopped in front of the sacred tree as Kazuka drew out the meidou stone. Its onyx stone glittered in the midday sun. she pressed the necklace to the trunk of the tree and uttered a few undecipherable words. Suddenly, a bright light glowed from the necklace. A door appeared on the trunk of the tree that kazuka opened. The inside of the door was pitch black and empty.

"h-h-hey…do you think this is a good idea? How do you know that we can trust her? After all, she is sesshomaru's daughter!" shippo said.

"the very fact that she is sesshomaru's daughter should be proof enough that she can be trusted. This means that sesshomaru has changed his ways. And by the way Kazuka addressed inuyasha as her uncle, this must mean that inuyasha and sesshomaru are on better terms." Miroku said.

"but its so scary in there!" shippo said.

"if you are afraid, you are more than welcome to stay. No one requires your presence." Kazuka said smartly.

"hey! Im not afraid! Im just being cautious, that's all!" shippo said defensively.

"is that what you call it?" kazuka said.

"grrrr…."shippo growled.

"if anyone is having second thoughts about going, you can turn back now." Kazuka said.

"no worries here." Inuyasha said simply.

"im ready." Kagome said.

"we are prepared as well." Sango said.

"well, lets go then!" itaru said.

Kazuka led the way into the black void that stood behind the door in the sacred tree. "we must hold hands so that none of us are lost in the void of time and space." Kazuka said.

"alright." They all agreed. They clasped hands and jumped into what seemed like a bottomless pit. It seemed like forever that they were floating in the blinding darkness. But then, the meidou stone glowed and illuminated a door kazuka grabbed onto the latch to the door and used the meidou stone as a key. The door opened and the light from the outside flooded the area. They stepped out into the open, in front of the sacred tree once more. The brush surrounding the sacred tree was a lot thinner to what they were used to seeing. The birds chirped happily as usual as if they had never left their time period.

"well it doesn't look like much has changed." Inuyasha said.

"where are your parents?" miroku asked.

"we don't know." Itaru said looking down.

"well, all we have to do is track them!" inuyasha said. He put his nose to the ground and sniffed loudly. Itaru and meimei did the same and put their noses to the ground and started sniffing as well.

"this is an embarrassment." Kazuka sighed.

"I agree!" said Roga.

"well, miss smarty pants, can you think of a better way to locate them?" Myoga retorted.

"hey myoga! You're still here!" shippo said.

"well…." Myoga said.

"I cant smell them! I cant smell them at all! All I smell is smoke and dead bodies!" inuyasha said.

"don't tell me we're too late!" meimei cried.

"we'll find them! I just know they're around here somewhere!" itaru said.

"hey itaru, why don't you try and sense their auras like you did trying to find meimei?" kagome suggested.

"good idea!" sango said.

"alright, ill do it!" itaru said. He closed his eyes and tried to trace kagome's aura. Meimei closed her eyes too and tried to find it. Itaru grunted and said, I kind of sense it, but I feel like its being blocked by something…"

"but do you have a general idea of where to go?" inuyasha said.

"yes, that way!" itaru said pointing northward towards the mountains.

"then that's where we'll go!" inuyasha declared.

"hold on a minute, do you sense inuyasha's aura too?" miroku said.

Itaru paused and looked at the ground. "no, I don't…"

The group was hushed for a moment until inuyasha said, "what are we waiting for?! Lets go find Kagome!"

Itaru led the way through the forest. And into the mountains where the terrain was steep and hard, bt not passable. When they came to a cleft below a cliff, itaru stopped and turned to a cavern with its entrance covered in sutras.

"this is the place. These must be why I couldn't pinpoint where my mother's aura was." Itaru said.

"well lets go!" miroku said.

Suddenly they heard a feral growl come from the inside of the cavern.

"h-h-hey itaru, was that your stomach again?" shippo stuttered.

"no, it wasn't…" itaru said.

Another growl came from inside of the cavern, more intense than the first.

"keep on your guard everyone." Miroku said.

A large black figure pounced from the inside of the cavern and shaped into a black dog with red eyes.

"it's a hound from the underworld!" sango said, drawing her hiraikotsu.

"well, if that thing is what is keeping kagome hostage, then its going down!" inuyasha shouted, unsheathing the tetsusaiga.

The hell hound bared its fearsome fangs and growled once more.

"no! don't hurt him!" itaru said jumping in front of the beast.

"what are you talking about?! That thing is keeping kagome hostage!" inuyasha said.

"no he's not! Hes protecting her!" itaru said.

"HAJI!" meimei cried running up to the giant dog.

The beast retracted its fangs and whined. It laid down so that meimei could pet its nose.

"I missed you haji I bet you were worried sick about us!" meimei cooed.

"wait a minute, you know this thing?!" sango said.

"yes, Haji is our friend!" meimei said.

"oh…" inuyasha said, setting the tetsusaiga down.

"when its not ready to kill us, it looks kind of cute!" kagome said, walking up to it and petting its nose.

"whats all the commotion out here?" said a masculine voice from inside the cavern. A tall figure appeared in the sunlight. It was a familiar fox demon, but with bandages on his arms and legs and a bandage over his right eye.

"UNCLE SHIPPO!" itaru and meimei shouted.

"hey, its you! So you got the tetsusaiga?" shippo said.

"no, we got something better!" meimei said, showing shippo to inuyasha and the others.

"whoa! That's me!?" shippo exclaimed.

"I guess so…" miroku said.

You look so mature, shippo!" kagome complimented.

"well thanks, kagome!" both shippos said bashfully.

"so where is our mother?" itaru asked the adult shippo.

"shes in this cave. We are hiding from those reborn by the glasses of time. " shippo informed.

"is she alright?!" inuyasha demanded.

"shes alive, but not well. She is really weak right now…"shippo said.

"and what about inuyasha? Is he alright?" kagome pleaded.

Shippo paused for a second and said, "maybe it would be best if you come inside…" shippo said.

They walked inside of the large cavern, shippo lighting the way with a torch. Sounds of water dripping echoed loudly from the stalactites that hung from the ceiling. Bats hung in bunches, concealed by the shadows. It took them a minute or two to get to the end of the hidden tunnel.

"hey shippo, how did you get those injuries?" kagome asked.

" we had to change locations a couple of times over the past week and a half. I had to protect inuyasha and kagome…I lost an eye in the process, but its no big deal." Big shippo said. He stopped in front of a large boulder and sighed. "here we are. Im going to need a hand moving this thing." "okay." Itaru said, rolling up his sleeves. Inuyasha did the same and pushed the giant rock over to reveal an entrance. It was a tiny dark crawl space that they had to duck to access.

"no wonder they haven't found you yet. This place is pretty tough to figure out." Little shippo said.

"that was the idea." Big shippo replied.

They reached a room at the end of the small tunnel where it was dimly lit. the saw a pale and sickly looking kagome sitting against the wall and an even sicker looking kagome. Both of their eyes were closed.

'if I didn't know better, I'd say that she—I mean I, look a lot like kikyo!' kagome thought.

"MAMA! PAPA!" meimei shouted.

Kagome opened her eyes a little bit, but inuyasha's did not move. Meimei prepared to charge at her dearly missed mother.

"NO MEIMEI! DON'T!" future Kagome shouted.

Meimei screeched to a halt and looked at her mother with sad confusion.

"I have erected the strongest barrier I can muster. So anyone with the slightest hint of demon blood will be purified and killed." Future kagome warned.

"but mama…" meimei whined.

"im sorry, sweetheart…its to keep your father safe…" kagome apologized.

"what happened to him?" present kagome pleaded.

"im assuming that meimei and itaru told you what happened for the most part. The village was attacked by jakotsu and renkotsu. Im assuming that ginkotsu fired a bomb and it exploded really close to us. Inuyasha protected me…" future kagome explained.

"so you're saying…" sango began.

"inuyasha is really dead?!" shippo said.

"yes and no. I am using my powers to keep inuyasha's heart beating—" kagome stopped midsentence and bobbed her head.

"ma? Are you okay?" itaru asked.

Future kagome convulsed a little before yelling "ITARUUUUU!"

"Huh?"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, BOY!? DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO GET AWAY FROM HERE?! GODDAMMIT WHY DON'T YOU EVER LISTEN?!" future kagome shouted.

"mama? What is wrong?" meimei said.

"I have a feeling that that's not kagome talking…" miroku said.

"YOU REALLY WANT TO GET YOURSELF KILLED DON'T YOU?! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY FUCKING SENSE?!" Future kagome said.

"ma?" itaru said incredulously.

Future kagome convulsed again and regained her composure. "inuyasha, calm down. Now what I was going to say was, I am storing inuyasha's soul within my body. He was killed in the explosion but I was near enough to him to catch his soul before it left this world. So his body is only an empty shell…"

They all stared at *kagome* with concern in their eyes.

"so that's why you look so sick…" sango said.

"yes. Its really hard to physically support two people who are completely dependent on me and then myself. It really drains my strength, I don't know how much longer I can last…"

"wait what do you mean two people other than yourself, kagome?" little shippo said.

"yes, it seems like shippo can take care of himself just fine…" sango said.

"not shippo…what im saying is…" kagome let out a very weak chuckle and put her hand to her belly.

"im having a baby…"

"WHAAAAT!?" the group shouted.

"KAGOME IS PREGNANT?!" little shippo said.

'THIS IS SO AWKWARD!' kagome thought.

Inuyasha could say nothing, but blushed a brilliant red.

"YAAAY! IM GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!" Meimei cheered.

"AWWW COME ON, MA! I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH _THAT_ AGAIN! I WENT THROUGH ENOUGH WHEN MEIMEI WAS BORN!" Itaru shouted.

Kagome let out a light chuckle. "im sorry honey…its just that when your father looks at me and touches me a certain way… well I simply cant control myself!"

"STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" kagome and inuyasha shouted at the top of their lungs.

"*kagome simply chuckled and then formed into an all out belly laugh that more resembled inuyasha's laugh. "who are you two kidding?! Don't you dare tell me that you guys don't think like that about each other!" *kagome/inuyasha roared.

"WE SAID STOP TALKING LIKE THAT!" the two reiterated.

"I suppose no good has come of us?" miroku said disdainfully.

"yeah, where are Ami,Yui and Hiro?" meimei asked adult shippo.

"they managed to escape to the new demon slayers village that kohaku rebuilt. Thye should be okay for now…" adult shippo informed.

"well that's a relief. Wait, did you say the demon slayers village kohaku built?" sango said in disbelief.

"yeah. Hes really made something of himself. You would have never known that he wandered around half dead for a year. I even heard that he was engaged to be married…" Adult shippo said.

Sango's heart filled with delighted awe. Her spirits were instantly lifted learning that her beloved brother escaped the clutches of naraku's control. She sat down in relief and uttered a prayer of thanks to the gods.

"that's…that's wonderful…thankyou, shippo…thankyou for telling me that…"

"no problem."

Kazuka, who had enough drama for her tastes, rolled her eyes and turned to leave. But kagome caught her and asked, "kazuka! Where are you going?!"

"to return home and aid my father. There is no doubt that ryukoushi is headed there next." Kazuka explained.

"let us help you! Its going to take all of us to beat all of those guys!" kagome pleaded.

"we do not need your assistance." Kazuka said.

"listen! You guys don't have a chance by yourselves! You'll get killed!" kagome insisted.

"I said we do not need your assistance. My father was the most powerful thing in the country twenty years ago, and he is even stronger now. Do not underestimate him."

"we're not underestimating him, we have total faith in your father's abilities! But what is a general without his men? What is a king without his subjects?!" kagome insisted.

Kazuka remained silent.

"listen to her, kazuka." Said future kagome/inuyasha. "there is a better chance of your father winning without casualties with us around. "

Kazuka turned away and mumbled. " it's a disgraceful thing to accept aid from mortals. Father will surely be angry with me."

"is that what you're scared of? Getting in trouble with your dad?" itaru teased.

"you scared of a little spanking?!" shippo chimed in.

"my father does not 'spank'. He disciplines." Kazuka said indifferently.

"spanky spanky spanky!" the boys jeered.

Kazuka's anger rose and was prepared to hurt the both of them when miroku stopped them and said, "stop it all of you. Remember, it was kazuka that brought us here."

The two boys stopped teasing the hanyou princess.

"so what now?" sango asked.

"I guess we have to hatch a plan of how we're going to go about this…"

That was a terrible chapter. Im sorry everyone. So sorry!


	23. preview and authors note!

Sorry everyone that this is not a new chapter. But I have good news for you all!

I have an idea and I think it is a good one and Inuyasha Regashi will be up and going again!

I know a whole bunch of you have ants in your pants about what is going to happen next. But that seems to be the flaw in my writing style. I can make a beginning and end really good, but I cant seem to make the middle that is supposed to connect it. Remember what I said about me being bad at fillers?

So just wait, I know you are all terribly anxious and all. But it will be done, you have my word. I will probably post my next chapter sometime this weekend. But alas, I am a busy college student and that is subject to change.

I would like to thank you all for your patience and continued support. It really brightens my day when I see comments on my stories, it really does. I do it for you guys. (^_^)

So just hang on everyone! The next part of Inuyasha regashi is coming right up!

But since I am a nice author and I like to give a little suspense, Im going to give you a little preview to hold you over.

_Ryukoushi sat on a decorated wooden throne in a castle he and the ones reborn from the glasses of time had seized. There were many bloody bodies everywhere and the stench started to stink. Urasue and mistress centipede walked in and knelt before him_

"_Master Ryukoushi, we are still unable to find them!" said Urasue._

"_Nonsense! They have to be around here somewhere!" ryukoushi shouted in an impatient rage._

"_Sir, we have scoured the area! we have not picked up their scent or their energy! it is as if they have fallen off the face of the earth!" said mistress centipede._

"_I DON'T CARE! GO BACK AND SEARCH SOME MORE! I WANT INUYASHA FOUND! DEAD OR ALIVE, IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE! I WANT HIS HEAD!" Ryukoushi commanded._

"_Yes sir." Urasue and mistress centipede said._

"_oh and let me remind you of who it was that so graciously brought you back from your graves just for this occasion. if you fail, I will be sure to send you back from whence you came!" ryukoushi threatened._

"_Yes sir." the two demon women said. and with that, they disappeared from the room._

"_Damn it. Where could that little bastard be?!" ryukoushi mumbled._

"_You look agitated, lord ryukoushi." said a familiar,sinister voice._

"_Oh pardon me, Im not too good at hiding my emotions well , naraku." ryukoushi said sarcastically._

"_My apologies. Perhaps I could lend you a few pointers…" naraku suggested._

"_Like I need help from the likes of you: a fake demon who gave his mortal body to become one with a legion of demons so that he could possess the sacred jewel. Unlike you, naraku, I do not need the aid of a sacred jewel to possess ultimate power. I already have it within me."_

"_yes, your power is awe inspiring I will give you that…but that power will go to no use when your greatest enemy is out there and the one who knows him most is standing right in front of you…" said naraku._

"_Hmmm."_

"_Chasing a dog will do no good. You must lure him out with bait. And I know a trick that will work every single time…" naraku said._

"_Tell me more…" ryukoushi urged, with an interested look on his face._

"_Over 69 years ago, Inuyasha also sought the sacred jewel to become full demon. but he fell in love with the priestess who was a keeper of the jewel. Under unfortunate circumstances, they were forced to kill each other. While the priestess died, Inuyasha was put under the bondage of the spell for 50 years."_

"_Hmmm…is that so? So what you are saying is that you are going to disguise yourself as that priestess?" ryukoushi guessed. naraku ripped off his right hand that transformed into kikyo._

"_Exactly. This has brought Inuyasha to his knees every time, leaving him vulnerable and putting everything else he loves in danger." naraku said._

"_Hmmm…I like your idea. if you are certain that this will flush out Inuyasha and his friends." ryukoushi said. naraku turned to leave._

"_Oh naraku…" ryukoushi called._

"_Yes?"_

"_The unfortunate circumstance that fell between Inuyasha and the priestess…you wouldn't happen to have had a hand in that would you?" ryukoush asked._

"_Perhaps I prompted a thing or two…but they did most of the work." naraku said coyly._

"_heheh. What a dastardly thing to do…pitting lover against lover. Makes me wonder if I can trust you naraku…" ryukoushi grinned._

"_Have no fear. You will have Inuyasha's head by sundown." naraku promised._

Well there you go! A little bit to chew on until the next chapter that will be forthcoming! I love you all! Zaijian!


	24. Chapter 24:inuyasha regashi part II

alright, im gonna try to make this chapter as good as possible.

*Inuyasha/Kagome= Inuyasha talking through *Kagome's body.

*Kagome= future Kagome.

*shippo= future shippo

basically anything with an asterisk is the future version.

Inuyasha regashi

ryukoushi sat on a decorated wooden throne in a castle he and the ones reborn from the glasses of time had seized. there were many bloody bodies everywhere and the stench started to stink. Urasue and mistress centipede walked in and knelt before him

"master Ryukoushi, we are still unable to find them!" said Urasue.

"nonsense! they have to be around here somewhere!" ryukoushi shouted in an impatient rage.

"sir, we have scoured the area! we have not picked up their scent or their energy! it is as if they have fallen off the face of the earth!" said mistress centipede.

"I DON'T CARE! GO BACK AND SEARCH SOME MORE! I WANT INUYASHA FOUND! DEAD OR ALIVE, IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE! I WANT HIS HEAD!" Ryukoushi commanded.

"yes sir." Urasue and mistress centipede said.

"oh and let me remind you of who it was that so graciously brought you back from your graves just for this occasion. if you fail, I will be sure to send you back from whence you came!" ryukoushi threatened.

"yes sir." the two demon women said. and with that, they disappeared from the room.

"damn it. where could that little bastard be?!" ryukoushi mumbled.

"you look agitated, lord ryukoushi." said a familiar,sinister voice.

"oh pardon me, Im not too good at hiding my emotions well, naraku." ryukoushi said sarcastically.

"my apologies. perhaps I could lend you a few pointers…" naraku suggested.

"like I need help from the likes of you: a fake demon who gave his mortal body to become one with a legion of demons so that he could posses the sacred jewel. unlike you, naraku, I do not need the aid of a sacred jewel to posses ultimate power. I already have it within me."

"yes, your power is awe inspiring I will give you that…but that power will go to no use when your greatest enemy is out there and the one who knows him most is standing right in front of you…" said naraku.

"hmmm."

"chasing a dog will do no good. you must lure him out with bait. and I know a trick that will work every single time…" naraku said.

"tell me more…" ryukoushi urged, with an interested look on his face.

"over 60 years ago, Inuyasha also sought the sacred jewel to become full demon. but he fell in love with the priestess who was a keeper of the jewel. under unfortunate circumstances, they were forced to kill each other. while the priestess died, Inuyasha was put under the bondage of the spell for 50 years."

"hmmm…is that so? so what you are saying is that you are going to disguise yourself as that priestess?" ryukoushi guessed. naraku ripped off his right hand that transformed into kikyo.

"exactly. this has brought Inuyasha to his knees every time, leaving him vulnerable and even putting the life of his new lover in danger." naraku said.

"hmmm…I will accept your suggestion. if you are certain that this will flush out Inuyasha and his friends." ryukoushi said. naraku turned to leave.

"oh naraku…" ryukoushi called.

"yes?"

"the unfortunate circumstance that fell between Inuyasha and the priestess…you wouldn't happen to have had a hand in that would you?" ryukoush asked.

"perhaps I prompted a thing or two…but they did most of the work." naraku said coyly.

"heheh. what a dastardly thing to do…pitting lover against lover. makes me wonder if I can trust you naraku…" ryukoushi grinned.

"have no fear. you will have Inuyasha's head by sundown." naraku promised.

_back in the hideout_

"so that's all we are supposed to do?" miroku said.

"it seems really simplistic to me…" shippo said.

"yes, this will help us find where ryukoushi is hiding. once we take him out, it will be cake." *Inuyasha/Kagome said.

"what about the rest of our enemies? remember how hard it was to defeat some of them?" sango said.

"they don't have the power of the sacred jewel, remember? so its going to be easier to get rid of them." Kagome said.

"that's right, the only reason we had trouble with them is because of the sacred jewel." miroku said. "Kagome, are you sure you feel comfortable leaving Inuyasha's body alone?" he asked.

"yes. im okay with that. and after this is all over, we can beg Sesshomaru to use the tenseiga to revive his body." * Kagome said.

"NO ! ID RATHER STAY DEAD THEN BEG HIM FOR HELP!" *Inuyasha/Kagome shouted.

"but Inuyasha, there is no other way that we can resurrect you! and besides, if what itaru and meimei said is true, perhaps Sesshomaru will have a little mercy on you!" Kagome said.

*Inuyasha/Kagome grumbled.

"well, I guess we should move out then." Inuyasha said.

"right." they all agreed.

deep in the forest, they laid *Inuyasha's dead body out in the open so that anyone passing by could see it. *shippo, shippo and meimei watched the body to see who would find it first. it didn't take long before urasue and mistress centipede found his body.

"oh! here he is!" urasue exclaimed.

"yesss…we've finally found you, you wretched little bastard!" mistress centipede hissed.

"lets take him back. I hope we are graciously awarded for our efforts!" urasue said.

"alright! it worked better than I thought it would!" *shippo said.

"okay! ill send the signal!" shippo said, blowing on an acorn, which started crying and flew away.

"lets follow 'em!" *shippo said taking a magic leaf and throwing it to the ground. it exploded in smoke and transformed into a giant leaf. the three hopped on the giant leaf and took to the skies.

"I hope this plan works…" meimei said.

"of course its going to work!" 'it has to. We have double the manpower on our side. But there is no telling how many people that have died by Inuyasha's hand have been revived.' *shippo thought

When they looked up, they approached a mountain with a thick, eerie curtain of fog. Urasue and Mistress Centipede disappeared and the three following them were lost.

"Damn! How did we lose them?!" *shippo cursed.

"don't worry! Ill find them!" meimei declared. She closed her eyes to concentrate on sensing their demonic auras. When she pinpointed their location, she pointed, "there! Up ahead!" they followed her lead but was drawn into the fog.

"what is this?!" *shippo exclaimed.

"we're being sucked in!" shippo shouted. When they were sucked into the fog they were transported to a sort of jungle-like terrain.

"what is this place?!" shippo asked.

"I have no idea. Ive never seen anything like it." *shippo said.

"is it just me, or is it getting really hot and humid out here?" meimei said, waving her hand to fan herself.

"no kidding. Its so hot. Lets investigate." *shippo said. The giant green leaf landed on the grassy ground and reverted back into an ordinary leaf that *shippo put into his pocket.

"look at this place! Its so muggy and wet!" shippo complained.

"yeah, we just got here and im already sweating!" meimei said.

" this looks like some sort of forest. But why is this forest so hot this deep in the mountains?" *shippo said.

They kept walking and looked around for any sign of life. Birds chirped loudly and bugs buzzed in their faces.

"ick! So many bugs! They're everywhe—EEEEEEEEEKKKKK!" Meimei screamed as she was trapped in a net that hung her in a tree.

"Meimei!" both of the shippos shouted.

"im okay you guys! Don't worry!" meimei assured.

"a trap, that must mean people live here!" shippo said.

"yeah, but what kind of people?" *shippo wondered aloud. Suddenly shippo felt that they were not alone.

"hey guys, I think we have company…" *shippo muttered.

They could hear low growling and hissing in the bushes. *shippo grabbed the scythe from his back and posed for battle. Shippo, afraid of impending danger shook but stood his ground.

~0_0~

"what is taking them so long?" Inuyasha muttered to himself.

"don't worry, Inuyasha. Im sure they're alright!" Kagome assured.

"dammit! I knew I shouldn't have trusted them to do the job!"Inuyasha growled.

"Inuyasha, calm down!:"Kagome shouted.

"perhaps their hideaway is far." Miroku said.

"but it has been a while, though. Hasn't , monk?" sango asked.

"hmmm…" miroku mused to himself.

"well I don't care, im going to find them!" Inuyasha declared. With that, Inuyasha took off running out of the cave.

"wow, you are the most impatient…" Kagome grumbled.

"itaru, go with him." *Kagome said.

"what? Why me?" itaru protested.

"because, knowing your father at this age, he is liable to do something extremely stupid. And also because I said so." Kagome commanded.

"oh alright." Itaru spat. He crept out of the cave and followed stealthily behind Inuyasha without being noticed.

"Kagome, why did you send itaru after Inuyasha when he can take care of himself?" sango asked.

"I just remembered something. Naraku has something up his sleeve. And Itaru needs to be there." *Inuyasha/Kagome said.

"what do you mean, itaru needs to be there?!" Kagome asked incredulously.

"just trust me." *Inuyasha/Kagome said.

Inuyasha ran through the forest where shippo, *shippo and meimei were supposed to be. Their scents lingered and indicated that they weren't gone long. Inuyasha ran into shippo's crying acorn and sighed.

"well, I guess they found my body and are tracing them now..that sounds so morbid…" Inuyasha said making a face." Maybe the place is far away, for them to take so long. That's a relief."

Itaru sat in the trees far enough to not be detected. He watched his father walk around and observing where the three were there previously. Suddenly, itaru noticed a foul aura in the area.

'what is that?' itaru thought.

Inuyasha also noticed a presence, but not a negative one. Inuyasha saw a white light in the trees.

"whats that? Is someone there?" Inuyasha wondered out loud.

In the trees a figure of a woman appeared. Inuyasha peered closer and saw kikyo.

"k-k-kikyo?!" Inuyasha choked.

'kikyo! What is she doing here?' itaru thought. He inched closer to get a better look.

"Inuyasha! It is you!" kikyo said running up to her former lover.

"kikyo! But how?! Were you also reborn by the glasses of time?" Inuyasha asked.

"yes, I was! I am alive again! My heart even beats and my body is warm!" kikyo said happily.

" kikyo…is that really true? Are you really alive again?!" Inuyasha exclaimed grasping her arms. "see for yourself…" kikyo said, putting her hand on his face. Inuyasha's expression softened.

"you are warm…I cant believe it…" Inuyasha whispered.

"now we can be together, Inuyasha. We can finally live together as we once wished!" kikyo said smiling.

Inuyasha's smile faded from his face, remembering what he was told a day ago.

"kikyo…im sorry…" Inuyasha said.

"what?" kikyo said.

"what do you mean, Inuyasha? What is the matter? I don't understand!" kikyo begged.

"I…my heart…it is destined for another…" Inuyasha mumbled.

"destined for another…you mean…" kikyo choked.

"im sorry, kikyo. I…" Inuyasha continued.

Suddenly, a surge of demonic energy leaked from kikyo that only itaru seemed to notice.

'OH NO!' "Inuyasha! LOOK OUT!" itaru shouted.

"what? Itaru?" Inuyasha said. Looking back at kikyo, he saw naraku's face.

"naraku! You dirty bastard!" Inuyasha hollered.

"as usual Inuyasha. You always fall for kikyo. You were so preoccupied that you didn't even notice my demonic aura. What a gulliable fool you are!" naraku said mockingly.

"damn you!" Inuyasha cursed.

"Inuyasha!" itaru shouted,jumping to his future father's side.

"thanks for helping me out back there. I owe you one." Inuyasha thanked.

"heh, you can pay me back in 18 years." Itaru quipped.

"oh? Now who is this fine strapping lad?" naraku asked.

"none of your damn business!" Inuyasha growled.

"I heard from a little birdie that you have a son now. How adorable!" naraku chuckled.

"HEY! WHO YOU CALLIN ADORABLE?!"Itaru shouted.

"shut up!" Inuyasha commanded.

"father and son fighting side by side,this couldn't be a finer opportunity to exact my revenge!" naraku said, growing tentacles from his back.

"this couldn't be a finer opportunity for you to SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DIE!" Inuyasha shouted drawing tetsusaiga.

"die, naraku!" itaru shouted.

"no! itaru, you stay back! He's mine!" Inuyasha commanded.

"no! im not going to stand around and look stupid! Im gonna help!" itaru shouted back.

"will you just do as I say for once in your life!?" Inuyasha hollered as he dodged once of naraku's tentacles.

The tentacles seemed to come from all sides. Dodging them became harder as they multiplied.

"Inuyasha…your head will be mine by sundown, dead or alive." Naraku said.

"that's what you think!" Inuyasha shouted. "wind scar!"

Inuyasha unleashed a wind scar that beamed towards his enemy. But was deflected by his barrier.

"that damn barrier again!" Inuyasha cursed.'but wait, someone with spiritual powers can pierce through it!' Inuyasha thought."hey, itaru! You think you can break that barrier there?" Inuyasha asked.

"no way I can pierce through that! The wind scar couldn't even get through that, how am I supposed to?!" itaru asked incredulously.

"just try it! I know you can do it!" Inuyasha assured.

"fine!" itaru focused the spiritual energy to the sutasaiga making the cracks in the sword glow white.

"hm?" naraku stared confused at what was happening before him. 'that boy…what is he? How is he able to summon demonic _and _spiritual power?!' naraku thought.

"TAKE THIS!" itaru shouted, sending a wave of purified, white energy towards the barrier. Upon impact, the barrier shattered and ripped through naraku's right side.

"damn you, boy!" naraku hissed. 'but wait a minute…this purified energy…it has a tinge of demonic energy as well…perhaps I can take a hold of it and…' naraku smiled to himself.

"yes! I actually did it!" itaru cheered.

"good work!" Inuyasha shouted. "now finish him off!"

"alright! Naraku, bite the dust!" itaru shouted. Another wave of spiritual energy went straight towards him. Naraku smirked and took the blow head on.

"whoa! He took it head on!" itaru shouted.

Naraku used his body and propelled the spiritual energy back at them.

"whoa! How did he do that?!" itaru said.

the wave of spiritual energy hit Inuyasha and purified him.

"OH NO! INUYASHA!" Itaru yelled.

"heheh, glad you let me use your energy boy. I analyzed it and noticed that it has a tinge of demonic power in it. Which means that I can take hold of it and sustain minimal damage. You should have known better, that purified energy coming from a demon can never be pure!" naraku mocked.

"what!?" itaru wondered. He looked over to Inuyasha to see that he reverted to his human form.

"Inuyasha! Are you alright?" itaru asked.

"damn, that hurt like hell…" Inuyasha moaned, holding his head.'damn! im human! This plan is really going south on me!" Inuyasha thought.

"Inuyasha, so that's what you look like as a human? I wished I looked as good as you in that form."

"shut your ass up! I can still take you on, even in my human form!" Inuyasha shouted as he raised his dull tetsusaiga.

"well lets just see about that!" naraku chuckled. Tentacles whipped around them, threatening to attack at any moment.

"what are we going to do?!" itaru thought.

"hahaha! DANCE!" naraku commanded. The tentacles charged from left and right, Inuyasha deflecting with all of his might. Itaru tried to rush over to his weakened father.

"Inuyasha!" itaru shouted.

Suddenly, a large tentacle from behind rose up and posed to strike him. Itaru spotted it, but it was too close for Inuyasha to dodge.

"PA! WATCH OUT!" Itaru yelled.

Inuyasha turned in time to see the tentacle coming straight towards him. Inuyasha was stunned in shock and was not able to move quickly enough. However, itaru jumped in front of his father and was impaled in the abdomen.

"ITARU! NOOOOOOOOO!" Inuyasha yelled.

Itaru groaned at the pain searing through his body. "sorry, pa. Im sorry I didn't do what I was told…" he whispered, blood trickling from the side of his mouth.

"WHY YOU IDIOT?! WHI DIDN'T YOU DO WHAT I TOLD YOU ?!" Inuyasha shouted.

"I promise im not usually this disobedient…but I had to disobey this order…when you sent me and meimei away, I vowed that I would never leave your side. I will fight and die beside you fa—" itaru fainted and dropped his head.

"ITARU, WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" Inuyasha shouted.

Naraku retracted the tentacle where itaru was still impaled.

"how about this, Inuyasha. You come to the dragon clan's castle when you are in better shape to fight and you can retrieve your son there. We will be waiting for you…heheheheheh…." And with that, naraku disappeared.

"NO! COME BACK HERE YOU DAMNED COWARD! COME BACK AND FIGHT ME! I CAN TAKE YOU ON, RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" Inuyasha growled.

"**COME BACK AND FIGHT ME!" Inuyasha hollered. **He punched the ground repeatedly until his knuckled bled.

"damn it all!" Inuyasha cursed.

"well, I guess we're going to have to bring the party to you, naraku and ryukoushi. I hope you made plenty of friends in hell, naraku: _BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOUR GOING BACK!" _Inuyasha growled.

Wow….sorry if its bad everyone….its almost three in the morning and I am exhausted. I love you all…3


	25. Chapter 25:it comes together

Yaaaaay! 60 reviews thanks everyone! (I was going to say something at 50, but I forgot.)

Wow im so happy you guys! We're almost done! I cant wait to finish this!

_Shippo,*Shippo and Meimei in the mysterious rainforest…._

"alright! Come on out! Who are you!?" *Shippo commanded.

"y-y-yeah…wwho are y-y-you?" Shippo stuttered.

The figures in the trees advanced towards them. The three braced for what was to come.

"YOU THERE!" shouted a feminine voice.

"huh? A woman?" both Shippos wondered out loud.

A feminine masked figure stepped out from among the crowd. She removed her mask to reveal a rather elegant looking woman with long, spiky hair and greeninsh skin. Fangs peeked out from her ruby red lips and demon marking s across her eyes.

"who are you? And how did you find us?" demanded the woman.

"well you cant exactly say we found you… we kind of stumbled upon this place…"*Shippo said.

"how can that be!? There is an impenetrable barrier that protects this area!" the woman gasped.

"impenetrable? This place sucked us in!" Shippo said defensively.

The woman lowered her arms and sighed. "perhaps Ryukoushi is acting faster than we first thought…" said the woman..

"wait! Did you say Ryukoushi?! What business do you have with him?!" *Shippo demanded

"my comrades and I are part of the dragon demon clan. Ryukoushi is our ruler." The woman said.

"dragon demon clan?! Are you the people that are trying to hurt my daddy?!" Meimei shouted from the net in which she was captured.

"meimie! Pipe down!" Shippo hissed.

"your father…who would that be? The woman asked.

"my father's name is Inuyasha, the half dog demon!"

"Inuyasha?!" came a chorus of voices from behind them followed by a flood of whoops and cheers.

"whats ups with all this?" *Shippo asked.

"Inuyasha? He is your father?" the woman asked.

" You better believe it!" Meimei said.

"oh! What a dishonorable thing to do!" the woman ran over to cut Meimei from the net.

"my sincerest apologies young lady. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is ryuhana. You see, Inuyasha is our savior. That name we hold in the highest honor." Said the woman.

"wait a minute…what do you mean savior?! He killed your leaders Ryukotsusei and Ryukoushi!" Shippo shouted with a sudden surge of courage.

"Ryukotsusei and his son were our rulers, but not our leaders." Said the woman.

"whats the difference?" Shippo said.

"Ryukoushi and his father are rutheless demons who kill for pleasure and exploits those under his rule. We as a dragon clan are sworn to protect and guide the mortals. Unless provoked we are really a peaceful people, because we know the ferocity of our powers and how it can kill many. Ryukoustsusei and Ryukoushi ignored the traditions of our forefathers and did as they pleased. The elders warned them to cease, but to no avail. They continued to kill anything in their path. But my brother ryuhaku, planned a rebellion against them and sought out the great dog demon's help..."

"by great dog demon, you mean my grandfather, right?" Meimei interjected.

"correct. The great dog demon was happy to help, even though Ryukotsusei helped promote him during various wars centuries ago. We heard many stories that the great dog demon was a gracious and just ruler. So he went to slay Ryukotsusei and was supposed to kill Ryukoushi as well. But he died before it could be done. We thought that his first son, Sesshomaru would continue the work. Alas, he wanted nothing to do with his father's affairs! Ryukoushi found out about the rebellion and killed half of the clan, even the ones who knew nothing of the rebellion! And he killed my brother as well, in the most brutal way imaginable." Ryuhana shivered at the thought.

"wow, all of that really happened?" Shippo said.

"yes. When we heard that it was your father Inuyasha that killed Ryukoushi in the most recent demon war, we couldn't contain ourselves! It made no difference if he was half demon or not, we were just so grateful that we were finally free from his grasp!" ryuhana praised.

"hmmm…if that's the case, maybe you can help us out…" *Shippo said.

"in any way you wish sir. Anything we can do to help the savior of our clan." Ryuhana said.

~0_0~

_Back at the hideout…_

"what?!" said the group.

"Itaru was kidnapped?!" Kagome choked.

"oh no, what are we going to do?" Sango said.

"im going to go after him, that's what!" Inuyasha shouted.

"but Inuyasha, you know that this is a trap! You cant go alone!" Miroku said

"why do you think I came back to tell you idiots?!" Inuyasha spat.

"Inuyasha, how did you become human again?" Kagome asked.

"Naraku deflected Itaru's attack and it purified me." Inuyasha explained.

"but wait a minute, if it was purified energy that he deflected, wouldn't he have been purified as well?" Sango said.

"he said something like because Itaru is part demon, his purified energy can never be pure and that's what gave him the ability to take hold of his energy!" inuysha continued.

"this could be a problem…"Miroku mused.

"you think, monk?!" Inuyasha spat.

"we have to go and save him!" Kagome said.

"I will go with you!" *Kagome said.

"no, *Kagome! You're pregnant, and you have Inuyasha's soul inside of you! If you are killed, we lose three people!" Kagome pleaded.

"dammit! I hate being useless!" *Inuyasha/Kagome shouted.

"just stay *Kagome. You'll be safe here." Inuyasha said.

"I must go, you may need me there." *Kagome said.

"no, *Kagome, you're staying right here where you will be out of theway. We cant have you taxing yourself and the baby!" Inuyasha said.

"hmph." *Inuyasha/Kagome grunted. "just please return, all of you." *Kagome pleaded.

"we will, do not worry." Miroku said.

Miroku, Sango, Inuyasha, Kagome and Kazuka ran out of the cave. Kilala transformed and allowed Miroku and Sango on her back. Inuyasha and Kagome and Kazuka ran on the ground. Inuyasha searched the area for any sign of the Shippos and Meimei, hoping that they went to the same place.

"where do you think the dragon clan's castle is? I don't think I've ever heard of it." Miroku said.

"like where most daiyoukai's castles are: in the sky." Kazuka answered.

"in the sky? Ive never seen a demon's castle in the sky before." Sango said.

"and that's the point. They are hidden to human eyes. If humans saw the castles, they would most likely come under attack. Not that is any sort of threat, more like an annoyance." Kazuka explained.

"Inuyasha, do you remember where Ryukotsusei was found when you killed him?" Kagome asked.

"no exact place, but all that I know is that it is in the north!" Inuyasha said.

"then that's where we should go!" Kagome said determinedly. 'don't you worry, Itaru! We're coming for you! Just hang on!'

~0_0~

_At the dragon demon's castle_

Ryukoushi sat twirling his hair in his chair and sighed. 'why did I even bother reviving these fools in the first place? They are such a bother to babysit…' Ryukoushi thought. It was late afternoon and his patience was wearing thin. He growled and melted a nearby body by his gaze alone. The body melted, bones and all, leaving a puddle of bubbling goo on the ground. He got up to go to the balcony and stared at a giant serpentine figure that was wrapped around a mountain behind the castle.

'soon father…soon, we will have the head of the one who killed you. And you will be revived and will rule the north once again. And then if you desire my lord, we can take control of the whole of japan!' Ryukoushi thought satisfied. He heard a sound behind him on the balcony and turned to see Naraku standing there with Itaru in his hands.

"oh? Whats this you have here?" Ryukoushi said.

"the only son of Inuyasha. I just intercepted them on the way back here…" Naraku began

"I thought you said that you would bring back Inuyasha himself, not his son. You said that disguising yourself as a priestess would succeed." Ryukoushi said annoyed.

"indeed I did. But this child was able to see my disguise…" said the real Naraku from inside. The Naraku holding Itaru melted and reformed back into a hand and walked itself back to its master. Naraku picked it up and attatched it back to his arm.

"I thought that since you seem to be a man after my own heart, you would like to lure Inuyasha here and take his head yourself, nice and fresh." Naraku said.

"heheh. I thank you, Naraku. Perhaps reviving you was not such a bad idea after all." Ryukoushi said smiling.

Suddenly, they saw two figures coming from the sky; it was Urasue and Mistress Centipede carrying with them a dead body.

"lord Ryukoushi! Called Urasue.

"whats this now?" Ryukoushi wondered out loud.

"we have his body!" hissed Mistress Centipede.

"his…body…? Naraku, I was certain that you mentioned that Inuyasha was still alive and was coming here to retrieve his son." Ryukoushi said annoyed.

"he was, when I left him. And he was also in his human form." Naraku said.

"then what is this? Don't tell me we have been fooled!" Urasue said.

"it has his scent and everything!" Mistress Centipede said.

Ryukoushi observed Inuyasha's body and made a disgusted face. "this body has been long dead!" Ryukoushi spat.

"but how can that be?! His body was still lukewarm when we retrieved it!" Urasue protested.

"it is beginning to make sense, now. When the boy and Inuyasha fought together, the boy referred to him by his name. im sure Inuyasha, as a father would not let that slide. And I noticed as well, that this Inuyasha does not have his enchanted beads around his neck, the other one, did. And no offense to you fine ladies, but I don't believe that you could take Inuyasha even at your fullest strength…"explained.

"what are you getting at?" Urasue said.

" It seems to me that there are two Inuyasha's." Naraku explained.

"two of them?" Ryukoushi said, raising his eyebrow in intrigue.

"how can that possibly be?! Don't tell me that one came from the past and is now here!" said Urasue.

"I've seen it happen before. You yourself Mistress Centipede dragged the girl Kagome, the same woman who is now Inuyasha's beloved wife, to this time period to retrieve the sacred jewel. So I wouldn't be too surprised tthhat a past version of Inuyasha somehow came to this time period." Naraku continued.

"well well well, this is turning out better than I anticipated." Ryukoushi grinned. "two heads of Inuyasha to sacrifice to my father. He should have twice the power once he revives. He will be so powerful, not even Sesshomaru can defeat him!"

"heheh. Indeed…" Naraku said.

"well, this is good then! We retrieved the body and the other is coming this way! Everything worked out in your favor, my lord!" Urasue said enthusiastically.

"yes! We can celebrate and watch as—" suddenly, Mistress Centipede was cut off in mid-sentence when Ryukoushi extended his claws and ripped through Mistress Centipede's heart. She let out a blood curdling screech and withered until she was nothing but ashes.

"M-M-MY LORD! WHAT ARE YE DOING?!" Urasue stuttered. Ryukoushi turned to her and stared at her, eyes glowing red. Urasue stared back into his eyes and began to scream and melt away. what was left of her was her scythe and her clothing.

"since I pretty much have what I want, there is no need to keep you any longer." Ryukoushi said simply.

"very nice, my lord. I wish I could do that." Naraku complimented. Looking down to the still unconscious boy, he said, "what should we do with the boy?"

"take him inside. Im certain Inuyasha will be joining us for supper any moment…" Ryukoushi said.

"oh, we are having a dinner party? I had no idea. If I did, I would have dressed in a more suitable manner…" Naraku said coyly.

"you still have time to change. Set the table for oh…fourteen people. Tell the others we have guests. " Ryukoushi said.

"as you wish, sir." Naraku complied.

~0_0~

The group was on their way towards the north where the dragon demon's castle was. It was now late afternoon and the sun was beginning to finish its course.

"is there a faster way to get there? Its almost sundown! If we don't hurry, Inuyasha's body will be decapitated!" Sango said.

"well thanks for reminding me captain obvious!" Inuyasha growled.  
"it would help if we actually knew where we were going…" Miroku said.

"no kidding. All we know is that it is probably to the north, but where exactly north is it?!"

"I knew I shouldn't have traveled with you fools…" Kazuka grumbled.

Suddenly, a giant shadow loomed over them, blocking out most of the light. They looked up to see the figure of a giant dog. Kazuka noticed this and sped up. She jumped swiftly through the trees and high into the air. The giant dog noticed her and slowed down. It was a she-dog with the same moon crescent as Sesshomaru and allowed Kazuka to climb on her back. When the dog demon lowered herself more, they could see jaken sitting on her back.

"what—who is that?!" Miroku stuttered.

"from the crescent on her forehead, it must be Sesshomaru's mother." Sango said.

"Sesshomaru's mother?" Kagome wondered out loud.

"SHIT!" Inuyasha spat running in the trees in effort to hide.

"Inuyasha! What are you doing?!" Kagome said.

"she says she can see you, Inuyasha!" Kazuka shouted down to them.

"DAMMIT!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"why is Inuyasha scared of Sesshomaru's mother?" Miroku asked.

"now Miroku, listen to what you just said: imagine your mother leaving your father for someone else and that someone else was of a lower class and they had a child. and imagine what would happen if your father came across the bastard child alone. What do _you_ think he would do?" Sango said critically.

"ummm…try to kill the child?" Miroku guessed.

"that's right. Now apply that same scenario to this situation. Now why is Inuyasha scared of sessomaru's mother?" Sango said facetiously.

"because he is scared that she will kill him?" Miroku guessed dumbly.

"IM NOT SCARED OF HER!" Inuyasha shouted.

Sesshomaru's mother gave him a deathly glare and Inuyasha squeaked and ran for cover again.

"I guess it makes sense now…" Miroku said.

"Kazuka! Where is she headed? And where is Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked

"grandmother says she is going to the dragon demon's castle and see what it looks like. Father is making sure that mother is safe and out of the country." Kazuka answered.

"out of the country?" Kagome muttered .

"it must be a bad situation if Sesshomaru is bothering to take rin out of the country. This Ryukoushi must be a formidable enemy." Sango said.

"well, by the time he gets back, we will have killed him already. Hes wasting his time." Inuyasha said proudly.

"grandmother says don't count on it. Ryukoushi can match Sesshomaru on a good day. The only reason you beat him because it was a cold spell." Kazuka relayed.

'because it was a cold spell? Does she mean, that it was cold the day that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru fought him?'

"hey! Why cant you talk to me directly, huh?!" Inuyasha shouted to the demoness.

The demoness glared at him. Inuyasha grabbed his ears, nearly dropping Kagome and hissed.

"FINE! DAMN BITCH!" Inuyasha yelled.

"she says don't make her come down there and show you what a real bitch is." Kazuka said, stifling a laugh.

"Inuyasha, what just happened?"Kagome asked.

"inu-youkai. I only know one phrase. Sesshomaru never bothered to teach me anything else." Inuyasha grunted.

"I hope all of this works out…I wonder where the future versions of Miroku, Sango and Kohaku are…" Kagome thought.

~0_0~

_At the new demon slayer's village…_

"is that everything?" *Sango asked.

"I believe so." *Miroku said.

"do you know where the dragon clan's castle is, Kohaku?" Sango asked.

"yes, its in the northern mountains. But be careful, there is a strong barrier holding the area so that outsiders cannot attack. You may want to bring your best sutras, Miroku." *Kohaku said, his voice deep and masculine. He had grown two feet and was now a head above Sango. His face was more defined with a strong jaw and the beginnings of facial hair littering his cheeks and upper lip; his long hair was pulled up into a ponytail as was in his youth.

"alright, we are off. Surely Inuyasha will be going the same way, so hopefully we will meet him there." *Miroku said.

"are you sure about that? When was the last time you spoke with Inuyasha?" Kohaku asked.

"two weeks ago…" Miroku began.

"before the village was attacked…" Sango said.

There was a moment of silence between the three.

"well, I will remain here, just in case things do not go well." Kohaku said."Tokio and I will take care of Ami, Yui and Hiro."

"alright. Thank you Kohaku." Miroku said starting to walk away.

"Kohaku…im…im so proud of you…" Sango said.

"hm? What do you mean?" Kohaku asked.

"im so proud of what you have become…you have grown up so much. You came back and became a demon exterminator and rebuilt the demon slayer's village. And now its bigger than before. And not only that, you are getting married. Every time I see you, I expect to see my spunky little brother,but when I see you, I don't see my little brother anymore… I see a strong, mature warrior." *Sango said.

"really? You mean that?" Kohaku said.

"yes. Father would be most proud of you." Sango said nostalgically.

"thank you sister." Kohaku said.

After a moment of silence, they heard a mew come from behind Kohaku.

"oh! Kilala?" Sango said.

"I have a feeling Kilala wants to come with you. Like old times, eh?" Kohaku said.

"haha! Of course you can come with us, Kilala." Sango said.

The demon cat mewed happily and jumped on her shoulder.

"we'd better get going." Miroku said.

"mother! Father!" came a voice. Ami, Yui and Hiro stood together with Kohaku's fiancée, Tokio.

"please be careful!" Hiro pleaded.

"we will. We will be back, children." Sango said.

"take care of each other." Miroku said.

Kilala transformed and allowed Miroku and Sango on her back.

"wait!" Kohaku called. He ran up carrying Sango's hiraikotsu.

"oh! Thank you, Kohaku!" Sango said.

"I polished it up for you. It was a little dusty." Kohaku said with a smile. "oh! And something else…" Kohaku dug into his pocket and revealed a small, blue orb. "this is called the kori no ishi. It contains tears from the gods. At the heart of the northern mountains where the dragon demon's lair is, there is a counterpart stone called the kaji no ishi. The kaji no ishi controls the climate of the area inside of the dragon demon's barrier to suit their liking. Dragon demons despise the cold and feed off of the energy of heat. So because of that, it is always hot and humid. If you replace that with this, it should weaken them considerably; if you are lucky, it may snow."

"thank you Kohaku. This may help us win this battle." Miroku said.

"alright then. Goodbye and good luck, both of you." Kohaku saluted.

"goodbye!" they replied.

And with that, the two took to the sky and to the dragon demon's castle.

Ok! I think we're getting somewhere now! This is good progress, two posts in one week.

The beginning of the final battle! Next time!

Ciao!


	26. Chapter 26: divide and conquer

Inuyasha Regashi

Sorry people, classes are starting to get intense. It's a reading recess right now and it's the only time I'll have for a while to write this.

I'll do the best I can ^_^

Divide and conquer

Itaru wearily opened his eyes in the middle of a dark and humid room. He sniffed the air and nearly gagged. 'what the hell is that odor!? It smells like blood and rotting corpses!' he thought. He opened his eyes a little more and looked around him to see scattered bodies laying around him.

'am…am I in hell?' itaru thought as he remembered how he tried to protect his weakened father.

'FATHER! INUYASHA!" itaru gasped at the realization that his fathers were still in danger. He tried to rip away from what was holding him back, but was unsuccessful. He looked back to see what it was that was restraining him. He was captured in metal chains by hand and foot. He tried to tug from them more, but they did not budge.

"damn it all! Why are these chains so tough!?" itaru said.

"oh, so you're awake, are you?" said a familiarly sinister voice.

Itaru shot a look at the crouching figure in the corner across from him.

"YOU! NARAKU!" itaru hissed as he tried even more to rip away from the chains.

"heheh, there is no in trying to rip away from those chains. They are made from dragon's bones. They are harder than rock." Naraku said.

"grrrr…what are you plotting to do to me, you devil!?" itaru snapped.

"oh we plan to do nothing to you. As a matter of fact, as soon as your father, or should I say, Inuyasha gets here, we will set you free."

"what do you want with my father? Why are you in leagues with Ryukoushi!? What has my father ever done to you!?" itaru shouted.

" oh, your father and I are old rivals. It's a long story and I don't think that I should bore you with my sad stories. " naraku said coyly.

He turned to leave when mukotsu of the band of seven came in with an urn.

"ah mukostu. You have arrived. Do me a favor and put this boy back to sleep." Naraku said as he left the room..

"of course, naraku-sama." Said mukostu.

"and what do you plan to do to me, frog face!?" itaru said.

"grrr…curse you, you insolent little brat! Now be a good boy and go back to sleep!" he said, opening the urn to release a cloud of purple mist. Itaru coughed and choked for a few seconds until his eyes became droopy and tired.

"hmph! Call me frog face, will he!? That shut him up!" mukostu said.

"mukotsu! Are you here?" said a voice.

"yes, brother! Are they here yet?" mukotsu asked.

"they will be here soon. Once the boss gives the word, we will attack without mercy." Said the voice. Stepping into to the room and into the light appeared Bankotsu, the leader of the band of seven.

"brother, I have a concern…" mukostu began.

"what is it, mukotsu?" bankotsu asked.

"not that it will be a problem or anything, but according to naraku and ryukoushi, their numbers have doubled. Don't you think that could pose as a problem, brother?" mukotsu said.

"not at all. We were a match for them before, weren't we?" bankotsu said calmly, sitting down by a table where there was a jug of sake.

"yes sir, but we had possession of the shikon shards then; without them, we are but ordinary men!" mukostu said.

Bankotsu slammed his fist on the table, causing the old man to jump.

"you're wrong. We are not merely ordinary men. No, we are the band of seven! Generals and kings trembled at the mention of our name! where our feet stepped, men would fall to their faces and beg for their lives as if we were gods! So what if we don't have the help of those filthy shikon shards!? We have done so much without them already! Never refer to yourself, or the band of seven as 'ordinary men'. We are much more than that, mukotsu! Much more!" Bankotsu shouted.

"y-y-yesss brother! You are right, of course! How could I forget our escapades of our first lives?! Ahh, those were the days…we killed many men and demons in then…" mukotsu said nostalgically.

"that's better." Bankotsu said.

"I have another question, brother. One that I hope will not anger you like it did the first: can we trust this Ryukoushi? He is a demon, after all…" mukotsu said.

" I don't know what that demon has up his sleeve, but if I can manage to watch Inuyasha meet his death, then I will accommodate…" bankotsu said.

"but, don't you think that this is like what naraku did to us? What happens when we are done? Will he kill us like naraku did?" mukotsu asked.

"I wont give him the chance. Once Inuyasha is dead for good, we'll blow this joint. I wont put you all in danger like I allowed naraku to the last time…" bankotsu said.

"and what about him? Are we just going to let that devil live?" mukotsu said.

"and that will be our next objective. After Inuyasha is dead, naraku will most likely flee as well to cause more chaos. When that happens, we will hunt him down and send him to the next life on a carriage!" bankotsu said with determination.

"that's a splendid idea brother! Lets drink to that!" mukotsu said, raising his cup.

Bankotsu poured sake into his cup and mukotsu's. they raised their cups toward each other and said "to the miserable death of Inuyasha, and the annihilation of naraku!" they drank with a big gulp and released 'ahhh's of satisfaction.

~*0*~

The sun was beginning to fall to the horizon as Inuyasha, Kagome, miroku, sango, kazuka and her grandmother searched for Ryukoushi's castle.

'its getting late, I hope we will make it in time!' Inuyasha said.

'I hope itaru is all right…'Kagome thought.

"I don't mean to sound negative, but we are going into this battle without any knowledge of who this ryukoushi is or how he works. The only information we have to go on is what itaru has told us!" miroku shouted down to Inuyasha.

"well it wont be the first time that's happened!" sango said to her companion.

"yes, but Inuyasha's life was not at stake. If we are too late, it will be nearly impossible for us to revive him." Miroku said.

"why do you guys keep harping on that?!" Inuyasha snapped.

"what are you so mad about?" Kagome asked.

"im not mad!" Inuyasha snapped again.

"you obviously are…" Kagome said. 'is it because he is afraid that we wont make it in time? Or that he doesn't like the idea of being dead?' Kagome thought.

"we are approaching the northen mountains right now! This is where the dragon demon clan's lair is!" kazuka shouted to them.

"well, that's a relief…but im sure that it is well…" miroku began before he noticed something in the forest riding with them.

"sango, do you see that? There is something there!" miroku said.

Sango looked to where miroku was pointing and saw a silhouette of them in riding in the forest.

"oh miroku! Its just our shadow! Stop being paranoid!" sango said.

Miroku lifted his arm, and the 'shadow' lifted it as well. He lowered his arm, the 'shadow' did the same. Miroku reached to squeeze sango's but and the shadow imitated. Sango slapped him angrily, but the 'shadow' of sango only giggled.

"dear, now is not the time! We can do that later!" said the shadow.

"that's no shadow!" miroku said.

The shadow came closer and closer to them until they were face to face with their futuristic counterparts. They stared at each other for a moment in an awkward silence until miroku said, "this is getting more and more awkward by the moment…"

"what? How is this possible!? Who are you!?"*miroku said, pointing his staff at his counterpart.

"whoa whoa whoa! Calm down! We are the past versions of you two! There is no need for alarm!" said miroku said.

"who are you working for? Ryukoushi! Reveal your true faces at once!" *sango said.

"whats all this commotion about?!" Inuyasha shouted over his shoulder. He saw the two sangos, mirokus and kilalas.

"hmmm so you aren't dead!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Inuyasha! " *sango and *miroku shouted.

"Kagome, why are you in your old clothes? I thought you burned them when you came back here for good!" *sango said.

"we are you guys from the past, we were brought here by Itaru and Meimei! They came back in time to find help for you guys!" Kagome said.

"really?" *sango said.

"that's what we were trying to tell you…" miroku said.

"if that's true, where is the present Inuyasha and Kagome?" *miroku asked.

"Kagome is in hiding; we told her to stay behind and out of danger. Inuyasha however…" miroku said.

"HES DEAD!" Jaken shouted to them, laughing hysterically.

"SHUDDUP TOAD!" Inuyasha shouted back.

"WHAT?!" *they both said.

"that cant be!" *miroku said in disbelief.

"its true…Inuyasha was killed by a bomb planted by ginkotsu when you were fighting …or so we heard." Kagome said.

"DAMN THAT BASTARD!" *miroku cursed.

"so you all are going to the northern mountains as well?" *sango said.

"is that where the dragon demon clan's hideout is?" Inuyasha asked.

"yes. Kohaku said that the dragon demons reside in the northern mountains and are protected by a barrier. So its good that you are here, Inuyasha. You can break it down with the red tetsusaiga!" *sango said.

"that will be no problem." Inuyasha smirked.

"when we get there, it will be very very hot and humid, so kohaku gave us this," *sango said, revealing the little blue orb from her pocket.

"the kori no ishi!" sango exclaimed.

"yes, deep in the mountains of the dragon demon clan's lair, there is a counterpart stone called the kaji no ishi. That is what keeps the climate in the mountains so hot, even at high altitudes. The heat gives the dragons their power. If we replace the kaji no ishi with the kori no ishi, we can make the climate inside of the barrier cold and cut their power in half!" sango said.

"that sounds like a great idea!" miroku said.

"yes, if that happens, we will have a chance to defeat ryukoushi and get Inuyasha and itaru back." Sango said.

"what do you mean itaru?" *miroku said.

"did something happen to him?!" his wife said.

"itaru was kidnapped by naraku a little while ago. Hes giving us an invitation to come after him." Inuyasha said.

"naraku is alive?!" *sango gasped.

"heh, I had a feeling that was the case…" *miroku said, looking down at his hand, it was not big enough to do any sort of damage, but his wind tunnel had reappeared and was growing.

"miroku!? Why didn't you tell me!?" *sango said, tears brimming her eyes.

"I did not want to alarm you, dear. And besides,we will defeat that villain and all will be well again." *Miroku said calmly.

"miroku…I thought…I thought you could trust me with everything…that's what I thought when we were married…" *sango sniffed.

"please don't cry dear. We will win, and when that happens, we can go back to our lives. We cant give more power to that monster than we already have. We cant let him see us falter, even for a moment." *Miroku said.

"alright miroku…" *sango complied.

Sango watched them with sympathetic eyes. 'so that's us in the future…'

"we're heeeerreeee!" jaken announced from the sky. They approached a very tall and ominous mountain where a deep haze circled the peak. Above it, there was something floating above it.

"that must be ryukoushi's castle!" Inuyasha said.

"we better hurry and get up there! The afternoon is growing old…" miroku said.

"hold on a minute, kohaku said that there was a barrier around the mountain to keep out intruders. He said that it could perhaps be brought down by a sacred arrow or with Inuyasha's red tetsusaiga." Said *sango.

"alright then, lets try that." Kagome said drawing an arrow from her quiver. She drew the arrow taut to the bow and focused the energy to the tip of it. When she gathered enough energy into the arrow, she released it in a burst of sparkling energy. The arrow did meet a little resistance, but then was sucked in to the barrier.

"it was drawn into the barrier!" Kagome said.

"well I guess there is no strong barrier! Lets go!" Inuyasha said.

With that, they charged into the barrier and was drawn into the hazy mist. When they got past it, the mountain was clear.

'this is too strange…we were drawn into the barrier rather than repelled…what does ryukoushi have up his sleeve?" *miroku thought. Going forward , the miroku, sango and kilala pairs and kazuka' s grandmother floated up the mountainside while Inuyasha scaled the cliffs with leaps and bounds.

"this would be so much easier if I could fly…" Inuyasha grumbled.

"its okay, Inuyasha. You're keeping up just fine! We'll be there in no time." Kagome assured.

"you're just saying that. You're not the one who has to do the jumping!" Inuyasha said.

"aww don't look at it that way! You're such a downer!" Kagome said.

"im just telling it like it is!" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome let out an exasperated sigh and decided to leave it alone. When they reached the top of the mountain, Inuyasha stood on a long, thin rock formation while the others floated in the air. All was quiet except the sound of howling wind. Suddenly, they heard a loud explosion and a flash of something round and black.

"WATCH OUT!" miroku shouted.

~*0*~

"Well well well, looks like they have arrived." Said ryukoushi.

"yes, they got here fairly quickly…" naraku echoed.

"oh and what is this? The lady mother?" ryukoushi said with a hint of playfulness.

"Sesshomaru's mother? Ooooh what a lovely turn of events! I wonder where the son is right now?" naraku said.

"no doubt trying to get his weak little concubine out of the country. He will no doubt get here shortly.

"so what shall we do with our guests then, lord ryukoushi?"

"lets give them some fireworks…everyone loves fireworks…" ryukoshi grinned.

"did you hear that, bankotsu? Fireworks for our friends." Naraku said.

"yeah I heard. Fireworks comin right up." Bankotsu said.

Down on the balcony where ginkotsu and suikotsu stood, he loaded a lead ball into the barrel of ginkotsu's cannon.

"its about time this party got started. Finally, I can get some blood on my hands again!" suikotsu said with a grunt while loading yet another cannon ball.

"ghesh!" said ginkotsu. "just as long as I don't blow them up first!"

"leave a little for me too, ginkotsu!" jakotus cried. "I want to watch Inuyasha bleed. I want him to beg for mercy."

"you will get your chance. Just wait for a little while." Suikotsu said.

"alright then. Ill be waiting then. And remember! Don't blow them all up!" reminded jakotsu.

"we'll try…" said suikotsu. Ginkotsu aimed his cannons at Inuyasha and the others.

"ready…"

"ghesh…"

"aiiimmmmm…."

*clink*

"FIIRE!" suikotsu shouted.

~*0*~

The ones that were floating were able to dodge the cannon fire coming from the castle. Inuyasha and Kagome crouched down to avoid impact. Another cannon was shot and another explosion followed.

"damn! We're out armed! How are we going to get close if they keep throwing explosives at us!" Inuyasha complained.

"leave that to us!" came a voice from behind.

They turned to see the shippos and meimei and an army of dragon demons behind them.

"whats all this?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome!" shippo and meimei cried.

"and where exactly where you three?!" Inuyasha snapped.

"oh shut it already. You should be thanking us. We brought help." *shippo said.

"help? But these are dragon demons! Aren't they on ryukoushi's side?" Kagome asked.

"wrong. Theyre not on ryukoushi's side. They've been planning an uprising when he went to war with you and Sesshomaru. But when you killed him, well lets just say, they owe you a debt of gratitude." *shippo explained.

"oh…" Kagome said. She looked over all of the dragon demons behind him and smiled.

"Inuyasha, you don't know it, but you are going to free a whole race of people from tyranny."

Another explosion erupted not too far from them and snapped them back to the moment at hand.

"so you say those dragons can take care of this?" Inuyasha said.

"im sure. Leave everything to us." *shippo said.

"s-s-speak for yourself! I don't want to be blown into smithereens! Im going with Inuyasha and Kagome!" shippo stuttered.

"oh suck it up! I cant wait to get on the action!" meimei said.

"lets go then! Ryuhana! Give the signal!" shippo shouted.

"right!" said the dragon demoness. "NOW EVERYONE! FIRE AT WILL!"

The dragon demons in their true forms released large balls of energy from their mouths while their comrades in the humanoid form fired from their hands. The bombs of energy blasted into the castle and sustained moderate damage.

"they have reinforcements!" suikotsu hissed.

"and so do we. Look!" said jakotsu. Flying from behind the castle walls were dragon demon guards armed with spears and swords. A war cry echoed throughout the canyons of the mountain.

"things just got more interesting." Said naraku. "a rebellion led by your worst enemy."

Ryukoushi growled. "heh, what are you trying to pull, you little mongrel? Trying to take me on like your father did mine? Well, I wont be the fool to let that happen! Bankotsu?" ryukoushi called.

"yes sir." Bankotsu affirmed.

"seclude Inuyasha from the others. I have a plan for him…using his own son…" ryukoushi said looking at the boy and grinning.

"aye aye captain." Bankotsu said saluting him.

On the battlefield, Inuyasha , Kagome and their friends were caught between rapid fire.

"what should we do?" sango shouted.

"lets try to get close to the castle undetected!" *miroku said.

"that's not going to be easy! How are we supposed to—" suddenly, Inuyasha heard a deafening explosion followed by the feeling of the ground beneath him crumbling.

"OH NO! INUYASHA, KAGOME!" the sango and miroku duos shouted.

The two fell into the deep craig at the foot of the mountain, screaming the whole way.

Hahaha….okay….trying to figure stuff out right now…

PLEASE REVIEW! THEY GIVE ME INSPIRATION! GIVE ME SOME IDEAS IF YOU ARE INCLINED!

PLEASE!


	27. Chapter 27: : battle

SO sorry for the long wait everyone. My morale is low and im running out of thinking juice. Anxiously anticipating the final act of Inuyasha which 'supposedly' comes out on the 20th of this month…

Well, I didn't want to do this, but perhaps you could give me a few ideas? I will give you credit for your ideas of course. Really didn't want to do that, but I have no choice right now.

For now, I will do the best I can on my own laurels.

Enjoy if you can ^_^

Inuyasha regashi chapter 27

Kagome woke up to the sound of cannon fire and the smell of smoke. She pried open her eyes to figure out where she was. She looked down to see herself on top of Inuyasha who was momentarily unconscious.

'why am I on top of him?' Kagome looked up and saw the battle going on above them, then she remembered what happened.

'we fell from that butte earlier…did he break my fall?'

She tried to get up and roused Inuyasha in the process.

"grrr…what just happened?" Inuyasha mumbled.

"we fell after we were hit by one of Ginkotsu's cannon balls. Are you okay?"

"yeah im fine." Inuyasha huffed as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome began.

"what is it?" Inuyasha replied.

"you broke my fall…a fall from that height could have killed me. But you put yourself under me to protect me. You saved my life, Inuyasha. Thank you" Kagome said.

"errr…well…" Inuyasha stuttered, a tinge of red staining his cheeks.

"well, you weren't going to save yourself!" Inuyasha shot back.

Kagome giggled a little bit before looking up into the sky.

"so what are we going to do now?" Kagome asked.

"what else dummy? We're going to get into that castle!" Inuyasha said.

"but the palace is heavily guarded!" Kagome said.

"did that ever stop us before?" Inuyasha said.

"I suppose not. But how are we going to get there? His castle is floating in the sky!" Kagome asked.

"will you stop asking questions and start looking for solutions?" Inuyasha snapped. "now get on my back and lets move." Inuyasha commanded.

"aye aye captain Inuyasha." Kagome breathed in a mock salute.

Kagome climbed on his back and he proceeded to scale the mountain. Kagome tried with all of her might not to look down. Unfortunately, she glanced at the ground below them and they were a considerable distance away from the earth below and began to get lightheaded

"uhh, Inuyasha…." Kagome said nervously.

"don't tell me you're afraid of heights now!?"Inuyasha grunted.

"im sorry. Maybe if I close my eyes." Kagome closed her eyes tightly and tried to get her mind off of how high they were.

Inuyasha concentrated on trying to climb the mountain, but his hands were becoming slippery with sweat.

'dammit! This wouldn't be so damn hard if it wasn't so damn hot!' Inuyasha cursed to himself. 'I have to keep going. Itaru is counting on me!'He glanced back at Kagome to see if she was alright. 'and so is Kagome…'

Lost in his thoughts, Inuyasha lost his footing and stumbled. Kagome cried out to him and fell off of his back. Inuyasha acted quickly and tightly grabbed hold of her wrist.

"INUYASHA!" Kagome screeched. Her eyes were wide with fear. She stared at him, afraid of the certain death that would await her, should she fall.

"Inuyasha…please…please don't let go!" Kagome begged, almost in a whisper.

"im not going to let you go!" Inuyasha shouted at her.

"Im scared Inuyasha! Please!" Kagome cried.

This was the first time Inuyasha saw Kagome truly afraid. Her eyes were wide with terror, looking at him longingly.

"Kagome…listen to me…im not going to let you go. Ever. " Inuyasha assured. He looked around

For a way out of the situation. Inuyasha scanned the area, but it was nothing but rock and mountain. Suddenly, something caught his eye. It looked like a balcony on a ledge of the cliff on the other side of the mountain. Inuyasha had an idea.

"Kagome…" Inuyasha began.

"y-y-yes?" Kagome said.

"do you trust me?" Inuyasha replied.

"what do you mean? What are you thinking?" Kagome asked.

"Kagome! Do you trust me?!" Inuyasha asked again.

Kagome stared at him for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking. But gulped and gave a reply.

"yes Inuyasha. I trust you with all of my heart."

"good." Then Inuyasha suddenly swung Inuyasha into the air with all of his might. Kagome was momentarily airborne and halfway to the other side of the cliff.

'please make it!' Inuyasha pleaded.

Kagome was too terrified to scream, but then saw what Inuyasha was aiming for. She tried to propel herself towards the balcony and landed with a loud thud on the floor. She looked up to see that it was covered in vines and exotic flowers. She got up and went to the edge of the balcony.

"Inuyasha! I made it! Im okay!" Kagome shouted.

"great! Ill be right there!" Inuyasha shouted back.

Inuyasha pulled himself up to where he could stand a little bit. He took a great leap across the gap and landed gracefully next to Kagome.

"it's a good thing this was here. We would have never gotten out of there!" Inuyasha said, wiping his head.

"it looks like it leads to somewhere?" Kagome said, looking behind them into the dark room that looked like the mouth of a cave.

"do you think this is connected to Ryukoushi's castle?" Kagome asked.

"theres no other explanation. Lets not get separated." Inuyasha said.

When they were inside the cave, the walls were tall and the ceiling high. Sounds of water dripping was amplified in the large cavern.

"this place gives me the creeps!" Kagome thought out loud.

Suddenly, the sound of a screeching bat sent Kagome flying into Inuyasha's arms.

"calm down will you! We wont get anywhere if you're running at every little sound!" Inuyasha snapped.

"im sorry Inuyasha." Kagome apologized, climbing down from him.

Kagome trailed behind him at a moderate pace. Her mind began to wander to the events that had transpired only hours ago.

'so itaru and meimei are really my—our kids? And there is another one on the way? This is so…strange.'

Kagome looked at Inuyasha's face, hard and concentrated.

"I wonder what he thinks of it? He hasn't said a word about it since we found out about it…" Kagome thought.

"then that leaves out so many unanswered questions! How do we defeat Naraku?! Am I stuck in the feudal era for the rest of my life?! OH CRAP, DO I EVER GET INTO HIGH SCHOOL?!" Kagome thought in sudden panic.

"and what happens to kikyo? Was she able to find peace? Or is she still alive somewhere? No, if kikyo was still alive, Inuyasha wouldn't hesitate to be with her. Would he?" Kagome thought soberly 'should I ask him about it? What should I say? Hey Inuyasha! Don't you think its great that we have kids?! Hahaha! Noo… that would be waaay too awkward. Perhaps we should talk about the baby that hasn't been born yet? Hey Inuyasha! What do you think we should name the baby, huh? No, that would be equally awkward! I wish he would say something! The silent treatment is becoming unbearable! Why doesn't he just—"

"they look like you…" Inuyasha murmured.

"huh? What?"

"the kids…they look a lot like you…" Inuyasha repeated, his face becoming a bright red.

"oh? Y-you think so?" Kagome said, her face becoming equally as red.

"yeah…they smell a lot like you too…" Inuyasha continued.

"oh…" Kagome breathed. 'okay this is probably a lot more awkward than I expected. How am I – I mean, how are we supposed to take this! Over two hours ago, we were just told that these strange children are ours and Inuyasha is dead? Hes probably taking that real hard. This is like some hilariously terrible dream! I feel like im on some kind of game show and at any moment camera men are about to pop out and yell "JOKES ON YOU!"'

"listen Kagome…" Inuyasha said.

"huh? What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome replied.

"about all this… I don't know what is going to happen in the future, even if I see it with my own eyes. But one thing I do know…" Inuyasha began. He quickly drew Kagome into a tight embrace.

"ummm…do you think this is the time to be doing this, Inuyasha?" Kagome said.

"shut up and listen, would you?!" Inuyasha snapped. Kagome held her tongue.

"all that I do know right now, is that I have very strong feelings for two people in my life. And im very confused. One day, I wake up and I find out that the one that I first loved, was reincarnated into another person and has no idea who I am. And then, later on, the one that I first loved comes back to life, but a fraction of the woman she once was…"Inuyasha explained.

'what is he trying to say?' Kagome thought.

"you and the others might think that im just a cruel bastard that doesn't know how to treat other people, but what you all don't know is that im trying my hardest to make things right with both of you…I guess all that im saying is…im very confused, but despite that Im trying my hardest to figure things out…"

"Inuyasha…I don't understand…what are you…?" Kagome mumbled.

"forget about it. Lets keep going." Inuyasha said, curtly releasing her.

'was Inuyasha saying what I think he was trying to say?' Kagome thought.

~*0*~

"NOOO! Inuyasha! Kagome!" Miroku shouted.

"Damn them!" *shippo cursed, clutching his scythe.

"what do we do now?" *sango said.

"what else? Go forward!" Kazuka said.

"Kazuka is right. there is no way that we are going to stop now. Lets go!" *miroku said.

The miroku and sango pairs along with the shippos and meimei flew into the castle. Kazuka, Jaken and Tomono stayed behind.

*this is as far as I go. I will wait here until your father arrives.* Tomono said through telepathy. Tomono allowed Kazuka and Jaken to climb off of her back and onto a nearby cliff.

"alright then. Arigato, obaasan." Kazuka said, bowing slightly.

Tomono floated upwards and away from the battle scene, careful to stay out of the line of fire.

"lets go, jaken." Kazuka said, turning around and walking toward the mountain's peak.

"err. Lady kazuka… forgive me for my ignorance, but why didn't your mother simply fly up to the castle?" jaken asked.

Kazuka drew from her back her naginata and whipped out a green, sparkling slice of energy. It seemed to go through the barrier, but dissipated. "that's why." Kazuka said.

"oh…that makes sense…" jaken stuttered. 'even at such a young age, Lady Kazuka has wisdom and insight beyond her years! She is truly the daughter of lord Sesshomaru! It sure is a shame that she is a female, and a half breed female at that! She would have made a fine heir to the throne if it weren't for those tiny little details!" jaken thought. In a blink of an eye, kazuka backhanded him, sending him teetering to the ground.

'SHE CAN READ MINDS NOW?! Oh, she never ceases to amaze me! Like father like daughter, I like to say!'

…..

Far off on a cliff facing the dragon demon's lair, Sesshomaru mused to himself. He could not help but remember the last time he saw his father before he died.

"what irony. This exact place, for the same reason. Over 200 years ago, I was standing in this very place with my honorable father…

_~~over 200 years ago…~~~_

"_my lord! The last squadron is ready!" said one of the Inu no Taisho's commanders._

"_good work." Inu no Taisho replied. He looked out over the valley that would soon become a battlefield. Afar off, he could see the dragon demon scouts keeping a wary eye on them._

"_father, where should I be stationed?" Sesshomaru asked._

"_your post will be at home this time,Sesshomaru." Inu no Taisho replied._

"_Father! I don't understand! Why…"_

"_you will not take part in this battle, Sesshomaru! You are still young and inexperienced. This is a battle that even I will have to muster all of my strength for. You will stay behind." Inu no taisho commanded._

"_but father! I have sworn to die at your side!" Sesshomaru persisted._

"_you will die another day, Sesshomaru! But today will not be it! You will go home and defend the castle! Do I make myself clear!?" Inu no Taisho roared._

"_grrr…yes sir." Sesshomaru said, bowing._

"_Sesshomaru…you are the only child that I have that can succeed me. I cannot have you throw away your life so recklessly." Inu no Taisho said._

"_the only child that you have that can succeed you..?" Sesshomaru thought._

"_yes. I trust that if anything should happen to me, you will be the man who will be able to take over for me. "_

"_y-y-yes father…" Sesshomaru replied._

_~~~return to the present~~~_

'And that was the last time I saw my father in full glory. After that battle, all his men had died, and he himself was mortally wounded. But that didn't stop him from going after that human and Inuyasha. Hmph.' Sesshomaru thought 'now here I am again. About to face the same foe. I assure you, father, that my outcome will not be as pitiful as yours.'

Suddenly, he saw a large dog figure come into view. He immediately concluded that it was none other than his mother. When she reached him, she reverted to her humanoid form. And stood in front of Sesshomaru.

"is your mate safe?" Tomono asked.

"as safe as she can be for now. Where is my daughter?" Sesshomaru asked.

"she is with Inuyasha and his human friends." Tomono replied.

"im sure lady kazuka will be able to handle herself quite well m'lord!" said a tiny voice.

"Roga why are you not with my daughter?" Sesshomaru asked.

"oh…..well…to simply put it, it is the time of my monthly unclenliness! And not only that, jaken is with her, im sure he can protect her a lot better than I ever could!" Roga explained.

"that isn't even possible for your species. Do not tell this Sesshomaru such blatant lies." Sesshomaru said giving Roga a menacing look.

"errr…yessir…" Roga complied.

"I will be going now." Sesshomaru said.

"Ryukoushi has the half breed's son with him." Tomono said.

"how did that idiot manage that?" Sesshomaru said.

"it is a mystery to me. Nevertheless, do not hold back. That lizard must be killed. For the honor of your clan, your father and yourself. Don't leave this job undone."

"I understand mother." Sesshomaru said, jumping into the air to fly away.

He looked towards where he could smell the strong scent of gunpowder and burning wood.

"well, it seems as if my dear little brother has started without me. But that's alright, a certain degree of deferment a certain amount of class..." Sesshomaru snickered to himself.

When our heroes reached the peak of the mountain, they reached a flight of nearly invisible stairs.

*miroku hesitated to go up and said to himself, "this is almost too easy…"

"what do you mean, *miroku?" sango said.

"im sure that Ryukoushi would have put up a tougher defense than this to prevent us from ascending to his castle. Im not sure if we can safely go through without any confrontations…" miroku said.

"you so smart!" said a familiar,low, rumbling voice  
"Kyokotsu!" *sango said, clutching her hiraikotsu.

"heheh. Ill be the one to prevent you from advancing any further." said kyokotsu.

"so, thats his plan?" miroku said.

" I suppose so. Lets split up. *Sango and I will take him on." *miroku said.

"heheh...puny little people..." Kyokotsu growled.

"are you sure about this?" *shippo said.

"im positive. We've faced more powerful opponents before havent we?" *miroku said.

"y-yeah. Well, be careful nonetheless." *shippo said.

"y-y-eah, be careful!" shippo echoed.

The seven left went ahead and left future sango and miroku to battle kyokotsu.

"so my love, shall we begin?" *miroku said.

"after you, dear." *sango replied.

They stared down their opponent, who grinned at them with a monsterly smile.

When the other seven had reached to the base of the castle, they were surrounded by darkness. However, they could feel that there was something sinister about the place.

"this place gives me the creeps!" meimei moaned.

"y-y-yeah! Me too!" shippo stuttered.

"meh." kazuka breathed.

"dont you think it would be a good idea for us to find out where the kaji no ishi is before we go off into battle?" sango said.

"that would be wise. But it might take us a while to find where it is. Looking from the outside, this castle seems to have many rooms..." miroku said.

"dont worry about that, the kori no ishi will start glowing when we get close." sango explained.

"but what about my papa and my big brother?! We have to save him before sundown!" meimei reminded.

"thats true...and the sun is getting closer and closer to the horizon..."miroku said.

"i suppose we will still need to split up." *shippo said.

"well, while all of you are exercising your lips, we could be half way to either direction..." Kazuka complained.

"kazuka is right, we need to part ways if we are going to. Meimei, kazuka and shippo: find the kaji no ishi and replace it with this." sango said, giving the kori no ishi to shippo.

"*shippo, sango and I will go and find itaru and inuyasha's body." miroku said.

"fine then, lets go." kazuka said, going in the opposite direction.

"errr...alright! I am brave! I am strong! I can do this!' shippo chanted to himself. When he saw his companions start to leave him behind, he panicked and ran after them.

…...

"lord ryukoushi, our visitors have entered the castle." naraku said.

"great. Now I can get things started." ryukoushi turned to the unconscious itaru and grinned. He grabbed one of the scales from his arm and attempted to attatch it to itaru's neck. But ryukoushi found his scale being repelled with tiny sparks of electricity and was knocked out of his hand.

"pretentious little bastard." ryukoushi cursed.

" I expect nothing less from the son of a priestess. However, it seems that it is amplified. This boy is truly remarkable." naraku said.

" no problem, I know how to fix this." ryukoushi dissapeared through the roof and appeared on the top floor where a shrine had been erected and inuyasha was positioned as the sacrifice. Ryukoushi slit his wrist and let some of the blood seep out onto his scale until it was completely soaked. He dissapered back down into the previous room and explained, " ill use his father's blood to hide my own essence so that I can control him from afar without his body repelling me."

" I see..." naraku said.

Ryukoushi retried placing the dragon scale on his neck. This time, he met no resistance and the dragon scale attatched itself onto itaru's skin. Suddenly, the scale doubled into two, then four, then eight, and it doubled until it covered nearly half of his body. On itaru's face was a menacing scowl.

" I see, your dragon scales can multiply until it covers the person it is attatched to, enabling you to control his every movement." naraku said.

"yes, this also takes care of that problem with the band of seven. I can kill two birds with one stone. Once the dragon scale covers his whole body, he will kill anyone that I command. Even if I say to kill himself, he has no choice but to obey." ryukoushi said.

"very nice, my lord." naraku applauded.

"you havent seen anything yet." ryukoushi said.

When they turned around to watch itaru, his hair started to become lighter. There were purple stripes becoming visible on his cheeks and his fangs began to peek from his lips. He released a feral growl and started to struggle against the chains holding him back.

"yes, my boy. I will allow you your freedom. Just as long as you kill every inhabitant in this castle—save naraku and myself. I want you to slaughter the one called inuyasha and bring back his body. Oh and if you are so inclined, bring me the flesh of his wife as well. I could use a good, tender meal at the end of my victory!" ryukoushi commanded.

Itaru's growl grew louder and louder until it was a very loud roar that shook the windows. He finally broke free of the chains and landed on all fours. His hair was now as silver as his father's and like his, two jagged purple stripes were tattooed on his face. He leapt out of the door and down the hallway, looking for a victim.

"now we watch and wait." ryukoushi breathed.

A/N: SO SORRY EVERYONE. THIS IS NOT A GOOD CHAPTER. MY MORALE IS VERY LOW!

please, if you are so inclined, please give me some ideas. Like I said before, I will give you credit. But I will edit them to my preference.

Thankyou my faithful readers!

please Review. So I can see if this story is still worth reading!


	28. Chapter 28: Trials

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 28: Trials

Meimei, Kazuka, Jaken and Shippo ran up the silver floating stairs that seemed to go on forever. Shippo and Jaken were beginning to get tired, despite them being full demons.

"how long is this stairwell?! it goes on forever!" Shippo complained.

"yes! how do we know that we are not stuck in some illusion or something, my lady!?" Jaken said.

"we are on the right track."said Kazuka.

suddenly, the atmosphere around them changed. it became much lighter and the air fresher.

"w-w-whats happening?!" Shippo stuttered.

around them, the atmosphere was a swirl of light and pastel colors. then, little huts formed around them and the ground appeared as golden cobblestones. the huts seemed to be made out of some sort of brown, soft brick-like material, pasted together with a sweet smelling mortar that was decorated with many whimsical colors.

"what is this place? and what smells so good?" Meimei wondered. Shippo, Meimei and even Jaken were entranced by the mesmerizing scent of candy and sweets.

"what are these houses made out of? it smells divine!" Jaken said, his mouth watering. he licked the side of one of the huts and squealed with glee.

"OOOOOOOOHHH IT TASTES AS IT LOOKS! i dont know what this is, but it tastes fantastic!"

"OH MY GOODNESS! LOOK!" Shippo shouted.

they looked forward and saw a gigantic red lollipop that stood as tall as a tree.

"Kagome gives me these all the time! they're delicious!" Shippo prepared to take a bite out of the lollipop until Kazuka yanked him by his tail.

"do not eat anything that is in this place. remember, we are still in the dragon demon's lair, this could be another trap." Kazuka warned.

"awww, but its soooo good!" Shippo whined

"absolutely not. i will not have you getting yourself poisoned over something absurd as sweets." Kazuka said, with her nose stuck in the air.

"ohhhh Kazuuukaaaaaaa..." Meimei called. in her hand was a soft, pink, tender seioubo*. it looked so plump and delicious in her hand. Kazuka's eyes grew wide.

"ummm, where did you get that seioubo from?" Kazuka asked shyly

"i know these are your favorite. and i know you would want one. but since you're gonna be a stick in the mud and all, i guess i can have it all to myself!" Meimei said, preparing to drop the confection into her awaiting mouth. suddenly, Kazuka saw the seioubo turn black and withered as it leaked a deadly miasma.

"KIYOME! DO NOT EAT THAT SEIOUBO!" Kazuka shouted.

"oh quit being a spoiled sport will you? its your own fault you dont want to eat it..." then, Meimei felt a burning on her hands and dropped the seiobo to the ground. the miasma spread to the ground.

"what just happened?!" Meimei said, stepping away.

"see what i told you, you idiots?! everything here is poisoned with miasma! dont consume anything you see here!" Kazuka warned.

"umm too late for Jaken...he ate half of this house..." Shippo exclaimed, pointing to Jaken, who was stuffed and dizzy-eyed.

"ahhhh!so delicious!"

"do you like what i made for you all? i thought you might like it." boomed a voice from above.

"so you finally show yourself, eh?" Kazuka said.

in the middle of the candy village, materialized Jakotsu with a frown on his face.

"I'm seriously pissed that you're all children. and all females from what i can see. fortunately for you, im not that type...if you know what i mean." Jakotsu said with a wink.

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING A GIRL!?" Shippo shouted angrily.

"AND HOW DARE YOU CALL CALL ME A CHILD!? WHY IM PROBABLY 100 TIMES YOUR AGE, YOU CROSSDRESSING HOOLIGAN!" Jaken chimed.

"well excuse me for having a fabulous sense of fashion. i didn't know that was a crime. but if it is, im soooo guuuiiiiilllllttyyyy!" Jakotsu said in a really frilly voice.

"UGH! this guy gives me the chills! lets get this guy over with, please!" Meimei said.

"oh! are you Inuyasha's kid?! you're the spitting image of your father! although...it leaves much to be desired..." Jakotsu said, looking her up and down.

"why do i have the distinct feeling that he was imagining something very very disturbing...?" Meimei grumbled.

"OKAY! EHOUGH CHITCHAT! LETS GOOO-" Meimei shouted, charging until she was stopped by Kazuka's naginata.

"no. you go on. i can take this thing on. you can switch the atmospheric control stones. you can at least do that much."

"what do you you mean we can do that much!?" Meimei shouted.

"if you fight this...whatever it is, you will get yourself killed." Kazuka said.

"i-i-i think we should do what she says, Meimei, i dont want to be in the same room with this guy" Shippo urged.

"fine, whatever!" Meimei said, running off to the stairwell that appeared once more.

"well then, little girl...i guess its just you and i now." Jakotsu said. "why dont you just hurry up and whine and die already. i have better people to chase after."

Kazuka giggled.

"and what are you laughing at? i know im funny, but that isn't one of my best lines." Jakotsu said.

"oh dont be so full of yourself. im just wondering..." Kazuka said.

"wondering what?" Jakotsu said.

"what exactly do you call yourself?" Kazuka asked.

"oh me? well haven't you heard? Im Jakotsu of the Band of Seven! third in command to lord Bankotsu! I know it was probably before your time, but if you ask anyone about us,you can be sure that you will be scared after you hear of our exploits!" Jakotsu boasted.

"thats not what i meant..." Kazuka said curtly.

"oh?"

" i meant, what are you? you are neither man nor woman. you have the desires of a woman, dress like a woman, but still call yourself a man. who does that?" Kazuka said snided.

"grrr...whats that supposed to mean?!" Jakotsu said, becoming angry

"i mean if you are going to change yourself, be one or the other, dont straddle the fence like an indecisive squirrel who does not know where to bury his nuts."

"grrr...how dare you lecture me! i am what i am! and if we are going on looks alone, look at you! you came to battle in a dress! who in their right mind would come in their best-"

*RRRIIIIIIIPPP*

Kazuka ripped the skirt of her silk brocaded dress from the knees down and threw the excess to the side.

"sorry, i meant to take care of that before, now if you're done whining, can we fight now?" Kazuka said.

"what-?! you little-!? **YES!**"

they charged at each other with a clash of their weapons and Jakotsu parried Kazuka with an attempt to trip her. Kazuka jumped backwards and smirked.

"wait a minute...! i've seen that arrogant smirk before! you're...you're Sesshomaru's brat aren't you?!" Jakotsu said angrily.

"thats lord Sesshomaru to you, human." Kazuka said.

"i knew i've seen that disgusting smirk before! that arrogant, pretentious bastard! ill be sure to send you to the afterlife!" Jakotsu said. he charged with all of his might toward the small girl, she easily evading him. he tried again and again to strike her, but she proved to be too fast for him.

"alright you little bitch! come out and fight me, unless you're too-"

*insert punch sound effect*

Jakotsu squealed in pain as Kazuka had just delivered a massive blow to his family jewels.

"GAAAAAAAHHHH! YOU LITTLE SON OF A BITCH FUCKER! YOU PUNCHED ME IN MY -"

*punch*

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL, YOU DID IT AGAIN!?"

*PUNCH*

"STOP IT! STOP IT NOW IM GONNA-"

*punch*

"so which do you want to be now?"

*punch*

"male or female?" Kazuka asked.

*punch*

"**GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AHHHHHHHH!"**

"come on, which one do you want to be?" Kazuka urged.

*PUNCH*

"A WOOOMMMAAAANNNN! A WOOMAAAANNN!"

"oh well, if thats the case, i have to get rid of these..." Kazuka said, preparing her sharp claws

"**NOOOO! NOOO, PLEASE GOD NOOOO!NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"**

"naaah, i wont do that to you..." Kazuka said, slinging her naginata over her shoulder, leaving Jakotsu to slump to the ground.

"goddamn you, you little-!" Jakotsu said.

"oh quit your whining already." Kazuka said. with a flick of her naginata, Jakotsu was cut in half.

"ugh...i hate the whiny ones." Kazuka said sighing. she looked up toward the stairwell and continued on her journey.

Sesshomaru stood at one of the lower balconies of the castle, ignoring the fierce battle going on around him.

"so, Ryukoushi...you seek to draw me out and face me one on one have you? well, i will make sure that you will die by my hand: for it seems as if my pathetic brother isnt too thorough when it comes to exterminating his enemy." Sesshomaru thought to himself as he walked meditatedly into the darkness inside of the castle. around him, he could see the rotting corpses that were killed by Ryukoushi.

" he killed his vassals and servants to prevent anyone from escaping...Ryukoushi, i didn't think you were the desperate type...but as it seems, you resorted in bringing some worthless humans and that vile thing Naraku back from the dead. are you that intent in making your death as dishonorable as possible?" suddenly, Sesshomaru's vision was clouded by a thick purple smoke.

"heheheh...i pity the fool who takes a whiff of my poisonous smoke , made special by me: Mukotsu!" said the small, bent over figure of the one called Mukotsu.

"not you again." Sesshomaru grunted.

"oh! its you! the one who attacked and killed me for no reason!" cringed Mukotsu. "but luckily for me, i have improved my poisons, that will weaken even you!"

"oh really? i'm trembling with fear." Sesshomaru mocked.

"you should be! i took good time in finding victims that have perished by your poisonous claws and made my own special brew! Here! have a taste!" Mukotsu said, opening an urn and releasing a thick green gas.

"you fool. do you think that i will be easily brought down by my own-!" *cough cough cough* 'what? what is this?! i cant breathe!' Sesshomaru looked around him and saw the bones and much of the wood being dissolved in the thick poison, before even his vision was becoming blurry. and he felt his skin beginning to burn.

'damn this cretin! using my own poison against me? and now my vision is failing me. i must deal with him quickly.'

"hahaha! how do you like it!? its my best work yet! i call it the essence of Mukotsu!" Mukotsu laughed.

"don't celebrate yet, you haven't won..." Sesshomaru said, trying to keep a brave face. Sesshomaru stood up and his eyes were red and his irises were blue. he had reverted to a full demon and was about to transform. he dashed towards the tiny old man and nearly ripped out his throat.

"ohhh! that was a close one! that could have killed me! it looks like the poison has had more of an effect than i thought! considering how it has even melted your calm demeanor!" Mukotsu chuckled.

Sesshomaru growled at the direction in which his voice was coming from.

'damn him. i cant see him, but i can very well smell him and detect his aura.' with that, Sesshomaru stood up and chuckled for a moment.

"w-wh-whats so funny?!"

"i have a riddle for you: how far will a blind dog walk into a forest?"

"not very far, considering you as a prime example!" Mukotsu said. a flash of white appeared before him before he knew it, his windpipe was being crushed.

"wh-what?! but-but you're blinded by my poison!"

"false. the answer is halfway. After he gets halfway, he's walking _out_ of the forest. you see, Mukotsu. while you thought two steps ahead of me, I've already found a way out. you forget the very very important fact: dogs have a keen sense of smell. i will give you credit or playing on that and using a potent poison against me. but another thing that completely slipped your mind is the fact that i am also a demon that can sense energy. and i'm not going to even count the fact that i can hear your annoying voice. so as you can see Mukotsu, even if you blinded and deafened me and even make smelling you difficult, i can always sense you with my mind. and the only way you can get rid of that is by killing me. but you cant do that, can you?"

"grr! damn you! if I'm going to die, I'm taking you with me!" Mukotsu splashed Sesshomaru's face with the poison from his urn. Sesshomaru growled and stepped back, holding his eyes.

"you will not live to regret that!" Sesshomaru barked. he charged with lightning speed and ripped his throat clean off of his body and head. he cast the throat aside and watched as his victim bled out and attempted to speak. he mouthed, "i'm still one step ahead of you..!"

"having trouble speaking, are you?" Sesshomaru said. Sesshomaru stepped on his head and smirked.

"too bad."

he walked away into the castle and continued on his journey.

*Shippo, Sango and Miroku climbed aimlessly up the silver stairwell in deep darkness. the only thing lighting their way was *Shippo's fox fire. they were beginning to get tired and wondered when the stairs would end.

"i hope we are not caught in some illusion where we will never reach the end of this stairwell!" Miroku said, panting heavily.

"don't worry guys, that is just what it is, an illusion. i sense a whole lot of youkai magic in this place. just keep going, i sense that we are getting somewhere." *Shippo said.

"hey Shippo, you seem to have gotten a lot stronger now, what have you been doing these past few years?" Sango asked.

"oh nothing much. just rigorous training and practicing of my kitsune magic. in these latter years i've been trying to rely less on my kitsune magic and more on my raw strength. you see, one day i hope to become the greatest kitsune that ever lived, become a ninja even. because looking back now on my past self, i don't ever want to cower in the face of danger like i did as a kid. i want to face my battles head on, even if they are a lot stronger than me. Inuyasha has become my prime example of how hard work and determination will pay off in the end."

"wow, Shippo! thats impressive! you have really made something of yourself! i bet you're having good luck with the ladies as well, eh?" Miroku said, nudging him suggestively.

"i pretty much tried as hard as i could not to follow in _your_ footsteps, Miroku." Shippo said.

"aww, whats wrong with my methods? i tell them what they want to hear, they sleep with me, they bear my children, everybody wins!" Miroku said emphatically. a heavy but swift bonk on the head with Sango's hiraikotsu brought him to silence.

"thanks Sango." Shippo thanked.

suddenly, above them, appeared an iron door with the imprint of a dragon on it.

"so this is the end of the road for this one, eh?" Shippo said. he prepared to open the door before Miroku stopped him.

"hold on a minute, Shippo. we cant risk in taking everything we see here at face value. be cautious when opening that door."

"don't worry about that, ill check." Shippo said, disappearing into the door. a moment later he reappeared and said, "it looks fine to me, but still we should be careful." Shippo warned.

"okay then. open the door." Sango said.

they opened the door to reveal a blank room.

"well, this was not what i expected..." Sango said.

"it seems like we are in an alternate dimension of some sort...its as if this reality is attempting to recreate what happens when one's mind is totally clear when meditating."

the room started to darken and then take shape into what became some sort of dungeon. the air became cold and stale as they were surrounded by metal chains.

"or not..." Miroku sighed.

"are we in a cellar or something?" Sango said.

"well wherever we are, i dont like it." Shippo said.

"well, i guess the only way to go is forward!" Miroku said cheerfully. he stepped forward and onto a brick that sank into the ground.

"uhh Miroku..." Sango began.

with a sudden 'whoosh', a spear nearly impaled Miroku.

"OH DEAR BUDDHA!" he jumped onto Sango who held him bridal style in his arms.

"seriously, you can get down now."

"that was way too close. is this whole room laid with traps?" Miroku asked.

"it appears so. we are going to have to proceed with as much caution as possible." Sango said.

"i dont think we'll get the chance! look!" Shippo exclaimed.

the walls were closing in on them in every direction, and even metal spikes were pushing out of the walls.

"oh no! we'll be smashed and impaled between the metal spikes!what do we do!? how are we going to get out!?" Sango exclaimed in fear.

there you go you guys. i promised that i would give you guys something during thanksgiving break. so here it is. i thought this chapter was decent. sorry that it was too easy for poor Sesshomaru. until next time!

_**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!**_

_****_*seioubo: a traditional japanese sweet that is shaped like a peach.


	29. Chapter 29: will of the ancestors

Sorry I took so fricken long, it's finally Christmas break and I have January off too. So I have all the time in the world. I promise that I will update more often. If we're lucky, I might finish! (But that's that I said the last time, right?) Just trust me on this one.  
I was looking back on the last few chapters and when I saw what I projected to be how many chapters this story would be (which was 10) I just laughed at myself and said "LIIIIEEEESSS!"

Another thing that I forgot to mention at the end of the last chapter in regards to Kazuka taunting Jakotsu's lifestyle, I _**HAVE NOTHING AGAINST THE LGBT COMMUNITY WHATSOEVER.**_  
I just thought it would be funny to mention.

So enjoy the rest of the chapter everyone!

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 29: Will of the Ancestors

Inuyasha and Kagome continued through the deep cavern under Ryukoushi's castle. Kagome walked as close as she could to Inuyasha as to not get lost. Kagome got annoyed with the darkness and drew out a miniature flash light.  
"What does that do?" Inuyasha asked  
"it's called a flashlight. Think of it as a miniature candle that doesn't go out." Kagome explained.  
Waving around the flash light, they spotted carvings and inscriptions on the cavern walls.  
"Look! There is something written on these walls!" Kagome exclaimed. They stepped back to observe the paintings that were on the walls. It was a large portrait that seemed to tell a story. There was a gruesome portrayal of a fierce battle between dragons and what seemed like dogs.  
"Inuyasha, do you see what I see?" Kagome asked.  
"Yeah, but what does it mean?" Inuyasha answered. Kagome waved her flashlight to the right and something glimmered in the light.  
"Something is there! Look!" Kagome exclaimed. She went over to find a tattered and worn scroll.  
"It's an old scroll...it looks pretty long...can you read this, Inuyasha?" kagome asked.  
"Hmm...it seems to be some sort of memoir or something...it says:

_' this is the oracle of Ryuren, great elder of the dragon demon tribe. This is a recording of my people as to what has transpired in this age. Our lord, Ryukotsusei has demanded full authority and has eliminated the council in which I was a part of. We believe that he has gone mad with power lust. Even his son has followed in his footsteps and goes on raids on human villages that are under our protection. Were they not raised in the ancient ways? We are commanded by the gods themselves to guide and protect the humans; alas, Ryukotsusei and Ryukoushi have abandoned the teachings of our ancestors. My people grow weary of Ryukotsusei's tyranny and the young ones plan a rebellion against him. I and my fellow councilmen have urged the young ones not to create trouble for the rest of us, for if they do, Ryukotsusei in his rage will destroy us all. However, one of my fellow councilmen, Ryukan has offered a solution to our problem. He told us of the great Inu no Taisho of the western lands. He told us of his great exploits and how he rules his land with fairness and justice. Ryukan proposed this idea to the people and they agreed that we should ask the Inu no Taisho for his aid. We sent messengers secretly back and forth, formulating our plan. Finally it came together and the Inu no Taisho agreed to help us. He mentioned in his message that once there was a time when he and Ryukotsusei were partners. Alas, he agreed that Ryukotsusei had become greedy and voracious. He even heard rumors that Ryukotsusei was planning to take his lands for his own (not that we can deny that it is true...) so he considered it only because it was a matter of precaution. So on that day, the Inu no Taisho rounded his troops to attack. The battle was gruesome even to the most experienced veterans. Many men died that day. Finally, it was down to the Inu no Taisho and Ryukotsusei. They battled for days. We prayed that the dog demon lord would come out victorious. Alas, he was only able to seal him away in a deep sleep. The last words he spoke were "my fang will return to finish the work'. We thought that perhaps he meant that he would retreat, recover and then return to finish him off. Unfortunately, this was not to be. The mighty demon lord died later that night. We believe that a third of the demonic world was plunged into deep mourning. But this I have a feeling will not be the end of our sorrows. Ryukoushi still lives. we have sent endless messages to the Inu no Taisho's son, Sesshomaru; alas he ignored our pleas and the fact that it was his father's last conquest. he only sought personal gain, much like Ryukoushi. there are rumors that Ryukoushi has discovered the uprising and is waiting for the moment to strike us down. I fear for my life and for the existence of our-'_  
it stops there..." Inuyasha said.

"oh those poor people!" Kagome sighed.  
"yeah. if this fails, which it won't, these people will have to suffer again. and who knows what will happen after that?" Inuyasha sighed.

"_SON OF THE GREAD DOG GENERAL..." _came a deep and booming voice.  
"who is that?!" Kagome exclaimed.  
"show yourself!" Inuyasha shouted.  
"_i am the spirit of the author of the scroll you possess." _continued the voice. then, a short, old man appeared with dark gray hair and withered skin. his eyes were red and so were the demon markings on his face.  
"so, you're Ryuren?" Kagome said.  
"_you are correct. I am the elder of the dragon demon clan and part of the clan's grand council_."  
"so why the visit huh?" Inuyasha asked.  
"_i only came to beg of you this favor: that you destroy both Ryukotsusei, and Ryukoushi and save our clan once and for all._"  
"that's it? no special reason, but just to tell me that?" Inuyasha said.  
"_there is something that you should know; the ceremony of revitalization, Ryukoushi will not succeed._" said Ryuren.  
"what do you mean by that?" Kagome asked.  
"_to revive a dead soul of the dragon clan, one must give a part of one's flesh or blood to the one being revived. and the more powerful the demon, the more flesh it will need in order to regain its power._"  
"yeah yeah, we know about all that. why do you think we're here? my body is up there and it's about to be sacrificed!"  
"_you flesh will do him no good. in order to revive another member of the dragon demon clan, one must have __pure dragon demon blood __running in their veins._"  
"so you're saying that the sacrifice won't work! that's great! now Ryukotsusei won't be revived!" Kagome exclaimed.  
"so all we have to do is get my body back, kill Ryukoushi and we're out of here!" Inuyasha said.  
"_that is not the point. Ryukoushi is making a fatal mistake. Ryukotsusei can still be revived. if Ryukoushi is offered as the sacrifice, then Ryukotsusei will be revived. but the flesh of his son will not be enough, he will lust after the flesh of all of our clansmen. if you do not act quickly, the dragon demon clan will cease to exist._"  
"so what? we're not going to do that. why would you think that..."  
"_because I have seen into the heart of the one called Naraku. he plans on allowing Ryukoushi to be sacrificed. once Ryukotsusei is revived, he will absorb him and possess tremendous power_."  
"i knew there had to be a reason that bastard was hanging around Ryukoushi all this time! there's no way that Naraku would let himself be put under the subjection of someone like him!"  
"_which is why you must stop him. you must save our clan. please, I beg of you." _said Ryuren, bowing low to the ground.  
"Inuyasha..." Kagome began.  
"i know I know. I'll help you, okay? you don't need to worry. I'll save your clan. just leave it to me." Inuyasha assured.  
"_but I must caution you: raw demonic strength will not be enough..._" said Ryuren.  
"why not?!" Inuyasha said frustrated.  
"it will take the combination of holy and demonic power defeat him. if you can find a strong holy man in the vicinity..."  
"leave that to me! I just so happen to be a priestess and I'm pretty good if I do say so myself!" Kagome offered.  
"kind of tooting your own horn there, aren't you Kagome?" Inuyasha mumbled.  
"well it's the truth, isn't it? everyone is always ranting and raving at how I'm the reincarnation of kikyo. so if I'm her reincarnation, I should have just as much power as her. or does that bother you?" Kagome said.  
"ummm welll..." Inuyasha stuttered.  
"_if this is the case, then take this._.." Ryuren disintegrated into little sparks of light. then, the walls around them began to glow, little sparkles of light combining together to materialize in front of them as a silver arrow.  
"what is this?" Kagome asked.  
"_that arrow contains the life force of all the clansmen that were slaughtered after Ryukotsusei was sealed and Ryukoushi discovered our plot against him. use this to destroy Ryukotsusei and Ryukoushi. you will have very little time, but you must pierce Ryukotsusei before the body of Ryukoushi reaches his heart. if that happens, there is little hope for you_." said Ryuren.

"oh...thank you..." Kagome said, gingerly picking up the silver arrow.  
"_do not fail us..._" came a unified multitude of whispers.  
"alright then, Kagome. we don't have a lot of time, so let's move out!" Inuyasha said.  
"right!" Kagome agreed. she put the silver arrow inside of her quiver and jumped on Inuyasha's back and continued on their journey.

~*0*~

the walls around Sango, Miroku and *Shippo were closing in on them, the metal spikes threatening to pierce them.  
"what are we going to do!?" Sango exclaimed.  
"how can we stop this?!" Miroku shouted.  
" I have an idea, Miroku! lodge your staff in between the walls! Sango, do the same with your hiraikotsu!" *Shippo ordered  
the two did as they were told and wedged their weapons in between the walls, stopping them temporarily.  
"they won't hold for long, we have to find a way to get out of here and fast!" Sango said.  
"hold on, I'm trying to figure something out!" Shippo said.  
"Shippo! you can teleport us out of here, can't you?" Miroku said.  
"but I've never teleported anyone other than myself before, it may not even work!" Shippo explained.  
"just try it!" Sango pleaded.  
"urghh...fine, put your hands on my shoulder!" Shippo commanded. as they were talking, Miroku's staff was beginning to bend and Sango's hiraikotsu was starting to shift.  
"grab your weapons!" Shippo said. the two grabbed their weapons at the last minute and in a flash of smoke, they all disappeared. *Shippo, Sango and Miroku found themselves in a forest with large trees.  
"it looks like we got out, but are we really outside?" Sango said.  
"it's probably another illusion." Miroku said.  
"in that case, we had better be real careful about what we do next. it could be a trap like the last one..." *Shippo said  
"good work though, *Shippo" Miroku  
"don't mention it."  
they wandered around for a good ten minutes in the deep forest that seemed to have no end.  
'it may be my imagination, but I feel as if I have been here before...' Shippo thought.  
suddenly, a large rumble followed by the crash of falling timber echoed through the forest.  
"what was that?!" Miroku exclaimed  
"nothing good I presume!" Sango guessed.  
then, large silver disks sliced through the air, bringing down trees with it; one landed in front of them  
"oh no, I think I know what this is!" *Shippo said. he remembered the time when he and Inuyasha were trying to get Kagome, Sango and Miroku to safety to recover from mukotsu's poison. then they were attacked by ginkotsu by this same method.  
"it must be ginkotsu of the band of seven!" Sango said.  
"let's get out of here!" Miroku said. they started running to evade the flying disks that threatened to slice them in half.  
"we have to find ginkotsu and put an end to this!" Sango said.  
"hey how about this? if we follow where the disks are coming from, we can find ginkotsu!" *Shippo suggested.  
"it's dangerous, but I think that will work!" Miroku said.  
they all stopped short and ducked, allowing the disk to pass over them. the disk passed over them again in the opposite direction and the launched a pursuit.  
they followed the disk to the source and soon found the gigantic suit of armor that was ginkotsu.  
"GHESH...so you found me did you?" ginkotsu said in his metallic, monotone voice.  
"so that's where you are!" Miroku said.  
"now that we've found you we can put an end to this!" Sango said.  
"GHESH, and end it we shall; with your bodies sliced in pieces!" said ginkotsu.  
"i don't think so!" *Shippo exclaimed, drawing out his scythe.  
"Shippo, go on ahead." Miroku said.  
"what!? what do you mean?!" Shippo said.  
"go on, Shippo. we can take care of this!' Sango said.  
"but...but you guys don't stand a chance!" *Shippo said.  
"Shippo, it only makes sense that the opponents we face will get stronger and stronger the closer we get to the top of this castle. right now, you are the most powerful one among us..." Miroku turned and looked at *Shippo.  
"we know you can do it. don't let us down, alright little guy?" Miroku said winking.  
"oh.. Miroku...Sango..." *Shippo muttered with a blush. "alright then! I'll go!" Shippo said.  
he ran off in the opposite direction, looking towards where the silver staircase in the sky was.  
'you can do it, Shippo; we believe in you.' Sango thought.

~*0*~

Meimei, Jaken and Shippo wearily trudged up the stairs in search of the climate controls.  
"how-much-longer-do-we-have-to run-?" Shippo panted heavily.  
"oh-quit-your-blubbering-child! you-knew-how-difficult-this-battle-was-going-to be, so-why then-did-you-come, you-weak-little-fox-child!" Jaken spat.  
"i-could-say-the-same-about-you!" Shippo retorted.  
"come on guys, just a little bit further!" Meimei encouraged. "look! I see a light up ahead!" Meimei said.  
up ahead was an opening with a bright light shining from within. they charged in and were engulfed into the bright light.  
"what is this place?"  
around them, swirls of black and red appeared and merged to form what seemed to be a battlefield full of dead bodies.  
"w-wh-what is this place?" Shippo stuttered.  
Jaken trudged over and lifted the heads of one of the slain.  
"they appear to be children I'm afraid...oh well, such is life..." Jaken sighed.  
'but who, why would anyone want to kill children?" Meimei wondered aloud.  
"let's get out of here! this place is giving me the creeps!"Shippo said, beginning to break out into a dash until a small arm grabbed his little kitsune foot.  
"WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AHHHHHHHH! GET IT OFF'A MEEEEE! GET IT OFF'A MEEEEEE!" Meimei ran to help the little kitsune and stomped on the arm that held him captive.  
then, other bodies around them stood up with droopy postures and bloodied corpses, an eerie guttural moan rising from them as the slowly advanced towards them.  
"the dead are coming to life again!" Meimei said, a shiver running up and down her spine.  
the children's corpses then began to float and charged at them with frightening speed. Meimei drew her chakrams and guarded herself as a small child assaulted her with a large stick. she parried it and pushed it back with a kick. Jaken beat back a crowd of corpses with his staff of two heads. Shippo simply ran away.  
"where are they all coming from?" Jaken yelled.  
"more importantly, what is controlling them? how are they moving?!" Meimei shouted back. as Meimei spoke, one of the corpses lunged at her and bit her in the forearm. she shrieked in pain and slashed back at the corpse with her chakram, causing it to fall to the ground and dissenigrate. Shippo, who was getting tired of running around, stopped and threw his fox fire at them. they burned and turned to ashes before him.  
"wow that actually worked!" Shippo said.  
"fire? why didn't I think of that before!?" Jaken said. he positioned his staff and yelled.  
"NOW! BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE STAFF OF TWO HEADS!" streams of flames torpedoed out of the mouth of the elderly head and burned the corpses into ash. he sprayed the rest of the field and stopped the attack.  
"good work, Jaken!" Meimei said.  
"well, what do you expect? being under the rule of lord Sesshomaru cultivates a degree of excellent in one such as i. to others it is awe inspiring, but to me it is but a simple matter!"  
"Meimei! are you okay?" Shippo asked, running to her and examining the bite mark on her forearm. the bite mark was red and beginning to turn purple.  
"there is some sort of miasma from the corpses, I believe. perhaps that is partially why those corpses were reanimated." Jaken hypothesized.  
"we have to treat this right away! Shippo said. he dashed away to look for clean cloths to cover her wound until they heard a crunching sound behind them. they all jumped at the sound and guarded themselves. all they saw was a young looking man with a satchel on his back.  
"who are you?! identify yourself!" Jaken commanded.  
"oh! there are survivors!" the man said running up to them.  
"who is this guy? and how is he in this castle?" Shippo said.  
"oh! young lady! you are hurt! let me see..." the man dug inside of his satchel and pulled out a roll of clean cloths and a bottle of an unidentifiable liquid.  
"if we don't treat this right away, the infection will spread!" said the man, taking out the bottle and pouring its contents on the wound. the wound started to fizz a little and the liquid turned green. but after a minute, the liquid became clear again and stopped fizzing. the man wrapped the cloth around the wound.  
"there now! if you change the cloths often, it should heal very quickly. don't forget to wash it as well."  
"thank you so much mister!" Meimei said.  
"by the way, what is someone like you doing in a battlefield?" Jaken asked suspiciously.  
"i am a doctor. I live in a village near by where generals took our children and forced them into a battle here. right now I am looking for survivors of this battle. I believe that if any are still breathing, there is still hope." said the man.  
"why do I have a bad feeling about this guy? and why do I feel as if I have met him before?" Shippo thought to himself.  
"well I hope you find someone! we'll be off now!" Meimei said standing up and grabbing her weapons. "oh yeah and one more thing, do you know the quickest way to the top of this castle?" Meimei asked.  
"castle? what castle? we aren't in a castle, we are outside." said the man.  
"IMPOSSIBLE! there is no way that we were transported outside of this castle! what trickery is this!?" Jaken squawked.  
"you must be mistaken sir, we w ere just in a castle not long ago until we came through a door over there." Meimei said pointing in the direction in which they came.  
"I'm terribly sorry. I can't explain that for you. but you may lodge with me if you need a place to stay..." said the doctor.  
"I'm sorry, but we're really in a hurry. thanks again!" Meimei shouted back to them. while dashing away, she tripped and dropped the kori no ishi and it rolled along the ground.  
"oh rats!" Meimei exclaimed, dusting herself off.  
"what would that be? it looks familiar?" said the doctor.  
"oh this? this is the kori no ishi. you see, we were supposed to be in a castle looking for the climate controls so that we could help save my papa. and we only have until sundown to get it there!" Meimei said.  
"in that case, I can help you. let me take a look at it..." said the doctor.  
"Meimei, are you sure we can trust this guy?" Shippo asked.  
"if anything happens to that stone, it is all your fault!" Jaken warned..  
"this kori no ishi holds the power to control climates. in the wrong hands it can cause a lot of damage. but I can form a protective spell that can prevent it from falling into the hands of evil." the doctor explained.  
"really? you would do that for us?!" Meimei exclaimed.\  
"it would be my pleasure." said the doctor. "just follow me, the sutra for the spell is in my hut."  
'why is he trying so hard to get us to follow him? is he a friend or a foe?' Shippo thought.  
"we can't waste time letting some human tamper with the stone! we have work to do! it doesn't matter to me if your father lives or dies, but it is for lord Sesshomaru's sake that this demon and his clan should be defeated once and for all!" Jaken hollered.  
"oh don't worry about it, Jaken! it will only take a second, right mister?" Meimei asked.  
"that's right. it won't take long at all." the doctor confirmed.  
they followed the doctor to his hut in an abandoned village not very far from the battlefield.  
"this is it. make yourself comfortable if you can." said the doctor.  
"this place...where are the rest of the villagers?" asked Meimei.  
"after hearing about the army that was headed this way, the villagers fled in fear. but I remained here, because as a doctor I have vowed to take care of the sick and injured; even if they are my enemies.  
"hmph. self-righteous human ideals..." Jaken grumbled.  
"so the spell..." Meimei reminded.  
"ah yes...now where did I put that..." said the doctor Turing around and shuffling through some of his belongings.  
Shippo sat by the door, the hair on the back of his neck still on end.  
"this seems too easy. I really don't like this guy for some reason. suddenly, he heard a noise outside. he peeked out of the bamboo door mat and saw the lifeless forms of human corpses advancing towards their hut.  
"UH OH GUYS! WE GOT COMPANY!" Shippo warned.  
"what?! there are more?!" Jaken squeaked.  
"oh no! *isha-sama, what are we-" Meimei's words were cut short when a large, rough hand slapped over her mouth. at that moment, she came face to face with four curved, claw-like blades.  
"what you can do, is just let me slice you to pieces..." said the doctor in a sinister voice.

OMFG.

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	30. Chapter 30: double stand-off!

Well, here's another one for you!

Merry belated Christmas and happy new year!

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 30

"Suikotsu! it's you!" Jaken said, whipping out his staff of two heads.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT ALL ALONG! HE WAS SETTING A TRAP!" Shippo shouted jumping up and down.

"Now now, no need to get huffy. im just trying to do my job..." Suikotsu said huskily.

'Grrr...So he was luring us into a trap was he? Well I'm not that stupid, i learned my lesson once already!" Meimei then bit down as hard as she could on his hand.

"GAAAH! Goddamn you, you little wretched bitch!" Suikotsu hissed.

"did you think i would let you take me so easily!? i may be a kid, but im no punk, you hear?!" Meimei said, drawing her chakrams. "You guys! Take this!' Meimei said throwing the kori no ishi to Shippo and Jaken. "go on ahead without me, you two! i can take this guy!' Meimei said.

"Meimei! This guy is dangerous! he takes pleasure in murdering children!" Shippo warned.

"It's alright! I'm not some ordinary kid, i got this!" Meimei reassured, winking.

"Oh...alright..." Shippo murmured. Jaken was already out the door burning the corpses that surrounded the house.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! YOU HEARD HER, LETS GET OUT OF HERE!" Jaken shouted.

They ran away from the house, burning bodies along the way.

"You should have listened to your friends. I don't go easy on children. As a matter of fact, i find them the easiest to kill. They can only cry and whine for their mommies. And you will be doing the same in just a few moments!" Suikotsu threatened.

"I don't care what you like to do, I'm going to get rid of you; because i have someone to save!" Meimei cried, charging at him.

The two parried and attacked each other again and again. they were pretty evenly matched.

"Well well, this is the longest fight I've had with a child. the last one only lasted a minute and a half."

"Well, what did you expect? Like I said, I'm not some ordinary kid: I'm a quarter demon; and running in my veins is the blood of the most powerful demon that ever lived!" Meimei said.

"Demon or not, your blood will be on my hands, and i will relish every single second!" Suikotsu said menacingly.

"well come and get me!' Meimei shouted. he charged at her with lightning speed. She back flipped out of the way and dodged his attack. He swiped to the left and right, Meimei dodging them both. The next one she did not see coming and three large gashes were made in her left arm. She cried out in pain and jumped away.

"You talk big, but can you actually fight me? You haven't laid one finger on me!" Suikotsu said mockingly. Meimei stood still to readjust her strategy; but she looked at Suikotsu carefully and noticed that he was trembling a lot. Especially the hand that hand injured her: it was shaking quite violently.

' I understand now...that doctor...he wasn't pretending at all, that really was him! he is still trapped in there! He doesn't really want to hurt anyone...'

"What's the matter? Are you scared? Come over here and let me put you out of your misery!" Suikotsu beckoned.

"You're miserable too, aren't you Isha-sama?" Meimei said tenderly.

"What? What are you talking about?! im having a great time!" Suikotsu spat.

"isha-sama, that's not really you is it? you are a kind person. You don't want to harm anyone..." Meimei continued.

"Grrr! Shut that trap of yours! That doctor is weak! He can't hear you!" Suikotsu yelled. his body began to tremble even more.

'What? Why is my body trembling like this!? And my hand, it's shaking uncontrollably!'

"Isha-sama, you can win! You can fight this monster! find the strength within yourself and you can beat him!" Meimei urged.

"GRRRRR SHUT UUUUPPP!" Suikotsu hollered, charging with more ferocity than before.

"Isha-sama!" Meimei shouted. Suikotsu grabbed a choke hold on her throat and lifted her up in the air.

"Isha-sama...fights him..." Meimei urged.

"I thought I told you already...that useless doctor is dead; to me and everyone else. it's just me, Suikotsu of the band of seven!"

"You're wrong!" Meimei struggled to get free from his grasp, trying to even scratch his hands.

"ISHA-SAMA!" Meimei screamed.

Then, Suikotsu started shaking violently and dropped her to the ground. He clutched his head and moaned loudly.

"….kill...me...!" he groaned.

"isha-sama..."

"Please...I am sorry...I am not strong enough to subdue him... if i was, i would not have hurt you or anyone else! Please! There is no hope for me!"

"but you told me yourself moments ago that you believed if any are still breathing, there is still hope! Those were your very words, isha-sama!" Meimei pleaded.

"I'm sorry, child...but those words are no good for me. the only way to get rid of this monster is to get rid of me completely! now hurry!" said the doctor.

Meimei stared at him, afraid to hurt the doctor.

"DO IT!" he shouted.

Meimei closed her eyes tight and raised her chakram. But when she raised them, she felt a pure white light coming from her weapons.

'What is this pure white light? is it telling me to purify his soul so that he can find peace?' reassured of her resolve, she brought down the chakram on his head while shouting, "SUIKOTSU! FIND PEACE!" she cut him in half, but one side was black and covered in blood while the other was white, pure and clean. The dark side began to burn with a loud, agonizing cry. The pure side disappeared in a burst of glittering light. in that moment, he whispered. "_thank you...I can now repent and find peace in the afterlife. Take care..."_

Meimei watched as the light floated to the sky and sighed. "You take care as well, Suikotsu..."

~*0*~

*Shippo ran up by himself up the silver stairs in the dark void. He panted heavily as he had been running nonstop for the past ten minutes. He was determined to find Inuyasha and put a stop to the sacrifice that was about to take place.

'It looks like I'll be the one to save Inuyasha. I sure hope I'm not too late though!" Shippo thought to himself. Up ahead he saw a wooden door with the emblem of a dragon on the front.

"Finally!" he huffed. He opened the door without hesitation and walked into an ordinary empty room.

"What is this, it looks like an ordinary room to me? Have I made it to the top?" he walked around and searched for anything that would lead him to Ryukoushi and Inuyasha. He looked ahead and there at the end of the room was the statue of a large Buddha with many torches around it. There was a bald man sitting in front of the Buddha in prayer.

'That looks like Renkotsu...'

"So you have come...I'm surprised it's you I must battle..." Renkotsu said.

"Oh I hope your surprise is pleasant, because i plan to send you away with good tidings!" *Shippo threatened

"Is that so? Well, you can try: but rest assured, I don't plan to go easy on you. i still remember when you were a little whiny kid!" Renkotsu taunted.

"Well, let me assure _you _that I'm not a whiny little kid anymore! I am a full-fledged demon and i am more powerful than ever before!" *Shippo said.

"Well, actions speak louder than words. As for my, my actions SCREAM!" Renkotsu chugged a mouthful of lighter fluid and spewed a torrent of flames at his opponent.

"So it's a fire fight you want? Great! I can practice my fox fire!" he shouted as he whipped his scythe and released streams of blue fire. the two streams of fire collided and created an explosion, sending sparks onto the dry wooden floor.

'Oh no, that's not good; if I'm not careful, we could set this whole room on fire...and then what?'

"Heh, alright. So we are equally matched?" Renkotsu said.

"It appears that way!" Shippo said affirmatively

"But you know only one of us can come out of this alive!" he said.

"Yeah I'm aware of that. so who is it going to be?" *Shippo asked coyly.

"Don't play dumb with me, kid! You know who it's going to be!" Renkotsu spat fire at him and it looked as if it engulfed him.

"Heh, like I said..." Renkotsu smirked. However, the fire dispersed in a gust of wind, revealing Shippo in the vortex.

"Nice trick, but no good for me!" *Shippo said.

"Grrrr... fine then! no more childish games! im gonna burn you to ashes!" Renkotsu threatened.

"Finally!" *Shippo replied.

They charged at each other, Renkotsu then at the last second, threw his fire wire over *Shippo. The wire tightened and dug into *Shippo's skin.

"Now how do you like that, kid?" Renkotsu asked.

Shippo grunted at the heat of the fire that burned his skin. he tried to pull away from the wires, but they only tightened. 'This isn't good at all' *Shippo thought to himself. Suddenly, *Shippo saw a black and green streak that passed both of them without a glance. 'Is that who I think it is?' *Shippo thought incredulously. Renkotsu saw it too and slightly let down his guard. 'Now there's my chance!' *Shippo grabbed hold of Renkotsu's fire wires and pulled him down. "grrr, "damn you!" Renkotsu hissed. 'This guy isn't the little fox kid anymore; he's actually got some skill! Looks like I may have to pull out the big guns, so I can end this quickly.' Renkotsu charged at *Shippo with more fervor than before. He took out a spiked ball and chain from behind him and swung it around.

"You sure have a lot of gadgets up your sleeve! What's next?" *Shippo commended.

"A good warrior and mercenary is always prepared for anything!" Renkotsu said. He threw the spiked ball at *Shippo, and *Shippo easily dodged it. However, *Shippo stepped on a piece of metal, sending an explosion that he barely escaped.

'Whoa! Where did that come from?' *Shippo thought.

"How do you like my latest invention, huh? I call them land mines!" Renkotsu boasted.

'What was that?' Shippo said

"Be careful where you step, kid. This place is loaded with those explosives! One wrong move and you're done!" Renkotsu said chuckling.

'Well I'll be damned! This may be more challenging than I thought!'

~*0*~

"Well, it looks like our fine guests won't get a chance to join our ceremony. What a pity." Ryukoushi chuckled.

"It seems so; it is nearly one hour until sundown. by the time they get here, it will be much too late." Naraku agreed.

"I can feel the excitement running through me right now, I cannot contain myself! Can you feel it, Naraku?!" Ryukoushi asked.

"Oh I can feel it. Like I might jump out of my own skin..." Naraku said sinisterly.

"Finally, the dragon clan can reclaim its power! all will kneel before me!and as soon as i get of these unsurpers, I can begin a new dragon demon clan! ahahahaha!" Ryukoushi laughed maniacally.

'Go ahead and relish in your glory now, Ryukoushi; for it is I that everyone will be kneeling to- including _you_.'

…...

Kagome and Inuyasha continued to run at the bottom of Ryukoushi's castle inside of the dark cave. Kagome held the silver arrow in her hand and thought, 'we have to hurry! If we don't, we might not get there in time to stop Naraku from killing Ryukoushi!'

"Dammit! How deep is this cave anyways!? It feels like we're going nowhere!" Inuyasha spat.

"Just keep going! we'll get somewhere!" Kagome urged.

Then, the cave came to an end before them.

"SEE!? I KNEW THIS PLACE WOULD TAKE US NOWHERE!" Inuyasha complained.

"Hold on, Inuyasha! Don't be so quick to jump to conclusions! maybe there is a secret door somewhere!" Kagome said. she felt along the wall of the cave to see if there was a hidden door somewhere.

"No good..." Kagome sighed.

"UGGGHH! IM SICK OF THIS!" Inuyasha yelled, punching the wall in front of him. A red glowing circle appeared around his fist and it webbed an intricate design in the walls.

"What is this?" Kagome said.

with a strong rumble, the wall that Inuyasha punched sank into the ground. They watched as the mighty rock disappeared to reveal a glowing silver stairwell.

"Well I'll be!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"See? A little persistence goes a long way!" Kagome said.

"Well a little violence goes farther!" Inuyasha said proudly.

Kagome sweatdropped.

"Let's go, Kagome!" Inuyasha commanded.

Kagome climbed on his back again and they ran up the silver stairwell.

They ran for a good while in the deep darkness.

'How long is this stairwell? We can't waste any more time! itaru is up there with Naraku and Ryukoushi and Naraku is planning to kill Ryukoushi! i have to keep running!" Inuyasha thought to himself. He picked up his pace and ran faster. Soon, they came to a red door with a dragon medallion in the middle.

"Alright, it looks like we're here now." Inuyasha panted.

"Be careful when opening this door, Inuyasha. we dont know what traps may be set." Kagome cautioned.

"I know, I know!" Inuyasha said annoyed.

Inuyasha carefully pushed open the door and it opened to reveal a bright light. revealed to them was a great hall with a throne at the end.

"Is this the place?" Kagome asked.

"I don't know...but it looks like it..." Inuyasha said. 'i dont know about this place, it seems too easy to get to!' Inuyasha thought to himself.

At the end of the great hall, there on the throne was a young boy sitting lazily with a halberd across his shoulder. The boy was none other than Bankotsu of the band of seven.

"Well it's about time you two showed up! i was sent here especially to fight you guys." said Bankotsu.

"Oh really, I feel soo special!" Inuyasha said, letting Kagome down from his back and unsheathing the tetsusaiga.

"You should. Considering the fact that i am told to defeat you and bring you back alive, and deliver you to the one who hired me; it's not my style but I can deal with it."

"Haha! We'll see about that! have a taste of my WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha shouted.

Inuyasha released a wind scar and it collided with the throne where Bankotsu sat. However, Bankotsu jumped out of the way just in time.

"You don't have the shikon jewel shards anymore, so defeating you will be a piece of cake!" Inuyasha boasted.

"Don't be too sure about that, Inuyasha! I've been training nonstop these past few days; and not only that, I've been given a new weapon made by Ryukoushi himself!" Bankotsu warned.

"well stop bragging about it and fight then !" Inuyasha said.

Bankotsu charged at Inuyasha, swinging his halberd left and right. Inuyasha dodged them easily and gave a slash of his own. Bankotsu narrowly dodged it. he backflipped out of the way and guarded himself.

"Hah, so much for your new weapon! You can't even touch me!" Inuyasha boasted.

Bankotsu hung his head and sighed.

"You know what Inuyasha? You're right. This is disgraceful. How did I honestly think to defeat you with this thing and without the help of the shikon shards? you know what? it's not even worth it. Why don't you go ahead and kill me with your wind scar? If you do that, you can be on your way..." Bankotsu said.

'No no no...This is waaay too easy...Bankotsu has something up his sleeve. there is something up with that weapon of his, I just know it! i just hope Inuyasha can sense it too...' Kagome thought.

"HAH! Who do you honestly think you're kidding?! do you really think im that dumb, putting on an act like that?! You don't give up so easily, that's just not your style now is it?" Inuyasha spat.

"You don't understand...after i dispatch you to Ryukoushi, he will kill me and the rest of my fellow band members. he only plans to use us like Naraku did. Dying by your hand, Inuyasha, would grant me some degree of honor..." Bankotsu said regretfully.

'Is that really true? Bankotsu is begging to die by Inuyasha's hand so that he doesn't have to die by Ryukoushi?'

"Hmph! Quit with the acting! Stand up like a man and fight! I'm not going to let you get off so easily!" Inuyasha shouted.

Bankotsu then dropped to his knees, his halberd in front of him.

"Please, Inuyasha-sama! I beg of you! Rid me of this short, phony existence! You are the only one that can!"

Inuyasha stared at him for a moment, deeply contemplating whether or not to really kill him.

'Is this guy really serious? But what can I do? If I kill him now, I can get to the top of the castle quicker! I guess I have no choice, do I?' Inuyasha thought to himself.

"Alright, Bankotsu...if you insist!" Inuyasha raised his tetsusaiga and released a wind scar.

the wind scar surged towards Bankotsu who was still kneeling. the wind scar seemed to have made contact.

"Did I get him?" Inuyasha exclaimed. then they heard a chuckle.

"Wow, Inuyasha! You held out longer then I first anticipated! I didn't know I would have to get on my knees to make you cooperate!" Bankotsu said, standing up; his halberd glowing with a red light.

"You are going to pay for that, though...because I kneel to no one!" Bankotsu said, bringing down his halberd and releasing a wind scar of his own.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha gasped as he jumped out of the way.

'I knew he was fooling us! His halberd absorbed his wind scar some how!' Kagome thought.

…...

Apologies apologies apologies. Work is very demanding and it takes up a lot of time. Oh well!

Tune in next time!

REVIEW POR FAVOR!


	31. Chapter 31: Struggle

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 31

*Shippo panted and sweated from the near death experience that had transpired moments ago. The fire around him became even bigger after the blast from the land mine.

'It's only a matter of time before this whole room goes in flames...does he plan to burn us both?' *Shippo thought.

"What now fox boy? don't have anything cute to say?" Renkotsu said, panting as well. the heat from the flame was starting to get to him.

'Heh, he is human. he can only stand so much. but I can stand far more than he can. let's see who holds up in this..." Shippo said.

"Are you scared? This fire is not some illusion, this is the real thing, boy!" Renkotsu shouted to him.

*Shippo simply stared him down, clutching his scythe.

"WELL?! ARENT YOU GOING TO RUN AWAY!? RUN AWAY LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE! GO AHEAD! DO IT!" Renkotsu yelled.

"I'm not afraid." *Shippo said.

"What?!" Renkotsu spat.

"You heard me, I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of you, I'm not afraid of death, I'm not even afraid of what awaits me in the afterlife...but do you know what I am afraid of?" *Shippo asked.

"W-wh-what is that?" Renkotsu replied.

"Fear." Shippo answered.  
"What?" Renkotsu said.

"Fear. I'm afraid of fear itself. If you become fearful of whatever you are facing, you have already lost. It immobilizes you. Even if you have it in your mind that you want to beat something, if you have the slightest bit of fear in you, you can't possibly accomplish anything. You see, there is a difference between fear and caution. Caution is a wise and fair assessment of a situation or your opponent..."

"So what the hell are you getting at!?" Renkotsu spat.

"Oh my point? It seems to me my friend, that you are acting more out of fear than out of caution. You have yet to lay one blow on me with your own hands... and you are yelling at _me_ to run away. Why is that? It seems that I am weaker than you, so why don't you kill me? Why don't you end it? You have a lot in your favor. Could it be that you are actually _afraid_ of me?"

"HAH! DONT MAKE ME LAUGH! I COULD SAY THE SAME ABOUT YOU! YOU HAVENT _TOUCHED_ ME!" Renkotsu shouted.

"Before I became a part of the band of seven, I lived my life afraid. Wars raging all around me, I only knew it was a matter of time before I became one of the hundreds of thousands of victims who died at the hands of careless samurai and even more worthless bandits! Then, one day I realized: why do I have to be the hunted, when _I_ can be the hunter?! And from that day on, I vowed that I would _never_ be the prey. I vowed that no matter what it took, I would make sure that I would be on the better end of the stick! So you see, fox boy…FEAR IS NOT IN MY VOCABULARY!"

Renkotsu said, running at *Shippo and throwing his spiked ball and chain and wrapped it around *Shippo's neck. *Shippo cursed himself and purposefully fell on to his back. When Renkotsu was upon him, he used his momentum to kick him back and into the air. Renkotsu flipped back onto his feet and pulled *Shippo to him.

"You, little punk, are going to be charred fox meat by the time I am done with you!" Renkotsu threatened.

*Shippo grunted then smirked and shouted. "FOX MAGIC SUBSTITUTE!" with a poof of green smoke, Renkotsu was left with a googly-eyed dummy substitute.

"BACK TO PLAYING CHILDISH TRICKS!?" Renkotsu spat.

"NOPE!" *Shippo exclaimed close behind him and caught him in an arm lock.

"Oh, so you think you're clever?" Renkotsu threw him over and then elbowed him in the stomach. *Shippo gagged and spit up in Renkotsu's face. While Renkotsu was wiping away his spit, *Shippo flipped away and grabbed his scythe where he left it last. Renkotsu threw the ball and chain at Shippo, only to cut it in half.  
'Damn! I don't have time for all this!' *Shippo thought. 'I don't know how much time I've wasted, but its time wasted and I need to hurry!'

"Okay, Renkotsu! It's been real nice and all, but I think I'm gonna go...have fun!" *Shippo said.  
"Well well well, chickening out already?! You know what they say; if you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen!" Renkotsu jeered.  
"But one more thing…" Shippo began.

"Huh?" Renkotsu asked.

"I'm kind of disappointed...I thought you would display more of your fighting skills than you did today. I mean, you barely did anything. And you call yourself a master of fire..."

"What are you talking about?! Look around you! You are surrounded by my beautiful artwork?! Can't you see it?!" Renkotsu shouted.  
"Artwork? Is that what you call it? It looks more like a big fat mess to me..." *Shippo said.  
"A MESS!?" Renkotsu seethed.  
"You know, I really thought you were a true fire master and that we could be equals in ability. But it doesn't seem that way..." *Shippo sighed.  
"HOW DARE YOU TALK OF MY ABILITIES! MY POWERS FAR SURPASS YOURS IN SKILL AND BRUTE STRENGTH! WHY, I HAVE BECOME ONE WITH THE FLAMES THEMSELVES!" Renkotsu pulled out his gourd of lighter fluid and poured it all over his head.  
'Oh no! He wouldn't!' *Shippo thought  
"WHY DONT I DO A DEMONSTRATION!?" Renkotsu yelled. He struck a match and dropped it over his head. In a second, he was engulfed in flames and became a living torch. Renkotsu shrieked a deathly scream, sending chills through *Shippo's spine.

"DO YOU SEE NOW, FOX CHILD!? I HAVE BECOME ONE WITH IT! ONE WITH THE FLAMES THEMSELVES! NO ORDINARY HUMAN CAN DO THAT! IM A GOD I TELL YOU! A GOD!"

Shippo had landed on the floor; Renkotsu forcefully stepped on his back.  
'I know this is all just for show, he will die soon enough! His will may be rock solid, but his body isn't! But I just don't know how long I can wait for that to happen!' *Shippo thought hopefully.  
Then suddenly, Renkotsu was bombarded with tiny little mushrooms. Renkotsu stepped back and tried to swat the assaulting acorns away. *Shippo rolled away and struggled to get up. He saw the silver door that was the way out. He started to sprint ahead but he was cut off by a sudden body of flame.  
"Nah ah ah..." Renkotsu said in a low and raspy voice.  
*Shippo stared into Renkotsu's eyes. The irises had become a frightening yellow and the whites of his eyes had turned pitch black.  
"oh no! this isn't good, he sacrificed his soul and now he is a demon!' *Shippo thought.  
Renkotsu spat a torrent of flames at him, nearly burning his face. luckily he was able to guard himself and only his arms were burned. *Shippo pried his eyes open, the smoke in the room becoming much too thick to see. but through those eyes, he saw an eerie figure blazing towards him, a lot like when fire is lit to a stream of oil.  
'has Renkotsu truly become one with the fire?' *Shippo thought. but in his distraction, he was engulfed in flames once more and pushed back into the statue of Buddha. he felt a slight splash against his back. he looked behind him and saw that it was a bowl of holy water.  
'Hold on a sec! This may be a bit of a stretch, but if Renkotsu has become a fire demon, then does that mean that he can be destroyed with water?' *Shippo looked up and saw Renkotsu charging at him again.  
'What do I have to go on at this point!? I have to end this quickly!' *Shippo thought. he grasped the bowl behind him, ready to strike once Renkotsu got close enough. 'HERE GOES NOTHING!"

*When Renkotsu was right in front of him, *Shippo whipped the bowl from behind him and doused Renkotsu with the holy water. Renkotsu screeched in pain, covering his eyes.

"DAMN YOU! DAMN YOU TO THE LOWEST PARTS OF HELL!"

"It worked! it really worked!" *Shippo exclaimed. he watched as Renkotsu violently shook and screamed. the flames on his body died until there was nothing but his melting, rotting flesh. after that, he became nothing but a heap of ashes. *Shippo stared at the heap for a moment.

"So this is what happens when you play with fire..." *Shippo murmured to himself.  
*Shippo finally remembering where he was, coughed and choked in the flames.  
"Right! back to business!" *Shippo exclaimed. 'I would put out the flames, but I don't have any time!'  
And with that, *Shippo ran towards the door and up the silver staircase to the roof.

~*0*~

Inuyasha stood growling at Bankotsu for the trick he had just played.

"You seem to like using this special attack on other people, let's see how you like it on yourself!-WIND SCAR!" Bankotsu shouted.

Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and jumped out of the way.

"So you think you're clever, huh? using the tetsusaiga's attacks on me? well I've got something to tell you: I know the ins and outs of tetsusaiga and its attacks. just because you can steal its abilities doesn't mean that it will defeat me!" Inuyasha said.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that!" said Bankotsu.

"Well then, let me demonstrate! ADAMANT BARRAGE!" Inuyasha cried.

The attack seemed like it worked. but when the dust cleared, Bankotsu was still standing and his halberd was glowing.

"What?!" Inuyasha gasped.  
"his halberd! it protected him just like the tetsusaiga protects you, Inuyasha!" Kagome said. but then, something caught Kagome's eye. on his hands, there were green dragon scales beginning to form.  
'what is this? are the dragon scales trying to take over Bankotsu's body?' Kagome wondered.  
"Inuyasha, look there! do you see what is on his hands?" Kagome whispered to Inuyasha.

"yeah, now that you mention it...that Ryukoushi probably planned for it to take over his body!" Inuyasha said.  
"we need to get him away from that halberd; otherwise we won't be fighting Bankotsu himself, he will be a mindless pawn!' Kagome said.  
"I'll do what I can. just stay out of the way, okay?" Inuyasha promised  
"Alright..." Kagome replied.

"Hey, Bankotsu! do you have any idea of what you are doing to yourself?" Inuyasha shouted to Bankotsu.

"What?" Bankotsu asked.

"You are allowing Ryukoushi to take over your body! if you keep on like this, you will become his pawn!" Inuyasha said.

"Pawn?! don't mock me! I'm a free man! I can do whatever I please!" Bankotsu replied.

"You don't understand, Bankotsu! look at your hands!" Inuyasha said.

Bankotsu looked down at his hands but did not see the green dragon scales growing on his hands from his halberd.

"Hmph! what are you trying to pull?! I'm just fine!" Bankotsu spat and charged at Inuyasha again. they crossed swords and stared each other down.

"BANKOTSU! DONT YOU SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOU?! YOUR BODY WILL BE TAKEN OVER BY RYUKOUSHI'S DRAGON SCALES AND YOU WILL BE HIS SLAVE! YOU WILL NEVER HAVE FREEDOM FOR YOU OR YOUR COMRADES!" Inuyasha shouted.

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH! I'm not falling for any of your tricks, I'm not as gullible as you!" Bankotsu began overpowering him and pushed him back into a wall. All the while, the dragon scales were inching closer and closer up his arms.

"Let me tell you a secret, Inuyasha, when I get through with you, I don't care what happens to that Ryukoushi or his old man. but when I'm through with him, _I _will be the one to kill Naraku! He fucked with my friends once, I won't allow him to do it another time. so if you would be so kind and DIE, I might even throw a punch in for you!"

"You won't get that chance Bankotsu! Open your goddamn eyes!" Inuyasha said.

'He doesn't see them! he has no idea that he is being eaten alive! I have to do something!' Kagome thought as she quickly drew her bow and arrow. she shot an arrow between Bankotsu and Inuyasha and Bankotsu quickly jumped away.

"KAGOME!" Inuyasha shouted.

"WOMAN, WHEN IM DONE WITH HIM, YOU'RE NEXT!" Bankotsu shouted to Kagome.

"OH NO YOU DONT!" Inuyasha spat and charged at him with his own claws. he slashed at his forearm where the dragon scales originated.  
'If I can cut off his arm, maybe I can stop the spread of the scales!" Inuyasha made contact with the dragon scales. but he drew no blood at all, not even an impression.

"What?!" Inuyasha gasped.

"The dragon scales! they're impenetrable!" Kagome exclaimed.

"HAHAHA!not good enough!" Bankotsu scoffed, kicking him in the face. Inuyasha was pushed back yet again and was on the defensive.

'This isn't right, Bankotsu is stronger than before! it must be those dragon scales that are lending him demonic energy! wait a minute...if he possesses demonic energy then maybe...!" Inuyasha thought.

"Have you had enough yet, half demon?!" Bankotsu asked.

"Not nearly! WIND SCAR!" Inuyasha shouted, releasing the infamous wave of energy.

"_That _again?!" Bankotsu said. "WIND SCAR!" Bankotsu mirrored his attack. both of the wind scars collided and were equally matched.

'Now is my chance!' "BACK LASH WAVE!" Inuyasha shouted.

The backlash wave sent the huge wave of energy right back at Bankotsu . however, the backlash wave swirled around Bankotsu's halberd and made it glow an eerie green light.

"What?! that should have worked!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Oh no! it stole another one of tetsusaiga's techniques!" Kagome exclaimed.

Bankotsu chuckled to himself. "wow, this halberd isn't too bad at all! almost as good as my Banryuu!" the dragon scales were now nearly covering half of his face.

'Oh no! it seems that whenever Inuyasha uses a demonic attack against him, it makes the dragon scales grow faster!' Kagome thought. "Inuyasha! don't use the tetsusaiga! the demonic energy from your attacks are only making the dragon scales grow faster!" Kagome shouted to him.

"Are you sure Kagome?! that is going to take a lot of time that we don't have!" Inuyasha shouted to her.

"We have no choice! you will wear yourself out using tetsusaiga and make Bankotsu stronger!" Kagome told him.  
"Alright then! I'll try!" Inuyasha said, sheathing the tetsusaiga.

"Oh? trying another method?" Bankotsu said.

"Why don't we do it the old fashioned way and fight with our fists?" Inuyasha said, audibly cracking his knuckles.

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea to me at all!" Bankotsu said, lodging the halberd into the wooden floor.

They charged at each other and grappled. Inuyasha managed to flip Bankotsu onto his back. Inuyasha attempted to slash at his chest, but he rolled away too quickly. Bankotsu kicked Inuyasha in the back, sending him flying.

'I have to get rid of him now! he is only getting faster and stronger!' Inuyasha thought.  
suddenly, Inuyasha noticed a burning itch on the palm of his hands and on his back where Bankotsu had kicked him. he looked at his palm to see a small cluster of dragon scales on his hands.

"OH NO!" Inuyasha gasped. " not only can I not use the tetsusaiga, I can't even so much as _touch _him?! I can't fight like this!" Inuyasha thought aloud.

"Inuyasha! what's the matter?!" Kagome asked, running over to him. she nearly touched his shoulder but he jerked away from her touch. "DONT TOUCH ME!"

"The dragon scales...they're spreading...whenever Bankotsu and I make contact, the dragon scales latch on to me...if we don't end this quickly, _and I _will become a slave to Ryukoushi!" Inuyasha explained.

"oh no!" Kagome gasped.

"Stay back, Kagome! I'll take care of him!" Inuyasha promised charging at his opponent.

"IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" Inuyasha slashed his claws through the air creating five wide crescents of light. the attack seemed as if it had succeeded, whipping up dust that clouded their vision.

"There! that should do it!" Inuyasha said pridefully.

"Is that all you got!?" said a voice as a very fast body charged towards him. Inuyasha felt a clawed hand close around his throat. Inuyasha felt his body fly through the air and slam hard into the wall.  
Inuyasha pried open his eyes to see that Bankotsu was completely covered by the dragon scales. his eyes were now an eerie yellow as well.

"Well? what now, half demon?!" Bankotsu hissed in a voice not his own.

'This is it...I'm not fighting Bankotsu anymore. I'm fighting an extension of Ryukoushi!'

"NOW HALF DEMON! IT IS TIME TO MEET YOUR DEMISE!" Bankotsu said. he punched Inuyasha in the gut, causing Inuyasha to have the wind knocked out of him. Bankotsu punched him again and again. Inuyasha started spitting up blood at this point.

"Bankotsu...I...I can't fight you like this...you have much more pride than that..." Inuyasha whispered hoarsely through blood-drenched lips.

"NONESENSE!" Bankotsu said, punching him yet again in the stomach, causing Inuyasha to spit up more blood.

"No Bankotsu...you don't understand...your comrades...they need you...how you can lead them...like...this...?" Inuyasha said.

"What are you talking about?! I've never felt so alive!" Bankotsu said. "with this power, I can lead them ten times better than before!" Bankotsu said.

"No...you're...wrong..." Inuyasha said.

"But how can I expect you to understand?! you couldn't handle this much power anyways!"  
Bankotsu punched him yet again, knocking him momentarily unconscious.

'NO! INUYASHA!'

"Of course you don't know about power...you hide behind that special little sword of yours. this power is _all mine_!" Bankotsu said. he turned then to Kagome, standing not far away from where Inuyasha was lodged in the wall.

"AND NOW FOR YOU WOMAN!" Bankotsu said, charging at Kagome. she screamed and attempted to run, but Bankotsu grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the ground.  
he crouched over her and gripped his hand tighter around her wind pipe.

"Now that he is out of the way, it won't take much energy to get rid of you...all I need to do choke you to death!"

Kagome desperately gasped for air. she became lightheaded from lack of oxygen. she tried to dig her nails into his hands, but to no avail.

She began to see dark spots before her eyes. she could only hear the booming echo of his triumphant laugh, but cut short with a splashing sound. she felt something hot and wet on her face and the grip on her neck loosen. she regained the sight back to her eyes and saw an agonized expression on Bankotsu's face. she looked up at his chest to see his still beating heart outside of his chest, grasped by a clawed hand. and behind him was a familiar set of triangular ears.

'Inuyasha?!'

the clawed hand quickly retracted and Bankotsu slowly fell to the ground beside her.

"Inuyasha?! you...you..." Kagome stuttered. but then, she realized that it was not Inuyasha who had killed Bankotsu...

"I-I-Itaru...Is that you?"

Do you know what the best feeling in the world is? GETTING OVER A WRITER'S BLOCK, YO!

thank you everyone for your encouragement and support! especially Awe Inspiring and Burnt Couch Stuffings. Really lifted my spirits, especially in a really challenging period of my life right now!

REVIEW! PLZ!


	32. Chapter 32: father vs son

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 32: Father vs Son; A Duel to the Death

Last chapter:

_"Now that he is out of the way, it won't take much energy to get rid of you...all I need to do choke you to death!"_  
_Kagome desperately gasped for air. She became lightheaded from lack of oxygen. She tried to dig her nails into his hands, but to no avail._  
_She began to see dark spots before her eyes. She could only hear the booming echo of his triumphant laugh, but cut short with a splashing sound. She felt something hot and wet on her face and the grip on her neck loosen. She regained the sight back to her eyes and saw an agonized expression on Bankotsu's face. She looked up at his chest to see his still beating heart outside of his chest, grasped by a clawed hand. And behind him was a familiar set of triangular ears._  
_'Inuyasha?!'_  
_The clawed hand quickly retracted and Bankotsu's slowly fell to the ground beside her._  
_"Inuyasha?! You...you..." Kagome stuttered. But then, she realized that it was not Inuyasha who had killed Bankotsu..._  
_"I-I-Itaru...Is that you?"_

The teenage boy stood hunching over with his head down, still holding Bankotsu's heart in his hand. Kagome slowly stood up and walked towards her future son.

"Itaru...you...you saved me...thank you..." Kagome said shyly.

Itaru didn't make a sound.

Inuyasha opened his eyes and saw Kagome and Itaru facing each other, Bankotsu on the ground between them.

'Itaru...? Did he do that...?' Inuyasha thought. Then he took a good look at his son and realized something.  
"Hold on a minute! There is something peculiar about his scent! It smells like he is a...FULL DEMON!" Inuyasha tried to pry his body off of the wall, but his stomach was hurting badly.

"Itaru, how did you escape? Did you see your father's body? Is he okay?" Kagome said, now a few feet away from him.

inside of Itaru's mind there was a sinister whisper: '_kill her...kill her and bring me her flesh...'_  
itaru let out a low growl and lifted up his head to reveal blood red eyes with greed irises and two jagged purple stripes on the side of his face.

"Itaru!" Kagome gasped. She started going faster towards him. "What's the matter, Itaru? why are you transformed?!" then she looked closer and saw that there were dragon scales all over his neck and on the right side of his arm.  
"Ryukoushi's dragon scales! Oh no! Not him too!"  
Suddenly, without warning Itaru charged at Kagome. She screamed and braced for impact. An impact that never came. She heard a loud crashing sound and opened her eyes to see that Inuyasha had tackled Itaru and was wrestling him to the ground.

"Inuyasha! Don't touch him! He has the scales too!" Kagome shouted.

Inuyasha ignored her and punched itaru square in the jaw. Itaru clawed and kicked his father and eventually threw him off of him.

"Inuyasha! Itaru!" Kagome called out to them. Itaru charged back at his father and their claws clashed in a bitter frenzy.

"I can't use the tetsusaiga, that will only make the dragon scales grow faster! But how am I supposed to get rid of them?! I can't kill him!" Inuyasha thought.

Itaru slashed at Inuyasha's torso and made a big gash in his fire rat robe.

"COME ON. ITARU! SNAP OUT OF IT! YOU CANT LET RYUKOUSHI CONTROL YOUR MIND AND FORGET ABOUT ALL OF US!" Inuyasha yelled to his son.

Itaru roared and shook his head. He tried to draw sutasaiga, but the sword burned his hand and he dropped it.

'No...Now sutasaiga is rejecting him...has his heart really become that of a full demon?'

He threw sutasaiga aside and charged at Inuyasha again. Inuyasha kept ducking and dodging his attacks. But Inuyasha did not know how long he could keep up with his assault, for with every jump he took, ever move he made, he could feel the dragon scales on his arms and back spreading little by little.  
Kagome stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. 'If I try to get close to him, I could get infected with the dragon scales, or Itaru could hurt me. But if I use a sacred arrow, I could dispel the dragon scales, but I could also kill him in the process!"

Itaru did not slow down in his assault to Inuyasha. But Inuyasha was starting to get tired.  
"ITARU! YOU HAVE TO STOP! LISTEN TO-" Itaru cut him off by tackling him and busting through the wall that reached all the way to the outside. The sky was much darker than before.  
'Damn you, Ryukoushi! Distracting me by making me fight my son! You devious bastard! You are just as bad as Naraku himself!' while Inuyasha was preoccupied with his thoughts, Itaru bit him in the arm, causing Inuyasha to yell loudly. "INUYASHA!" Kagome shouted.  
Itaru took a large chunk out of his arm and stepped back chewing on his flesh. "Tasty..." he hissed.

'Is this really my son? It smells like him, looks like him, and even has his aura...has Ryukoushi truly taken over his body?!' Inuyasha thought, holding his profusely bleeding arm.

Kagome jumped up to help Inuyasha, but Inuyasha yelled to her to stay away.  
"Don't Kagome! At this point, we don't know what he is capable of doing!" Inuyasha warned. Kagome stepped back cautiously. Itaru turned his head towards her and smiled an evil, bloodstained smile that sent chills down her spine.  
'Oh Itaru…' Kagome thought. Then without warning, Itaru charged at Kagome with lightning speed.  
"KAGOME!" Inuyasha shouted.  
Inuyasha ran after Itaru, but Itaru was too fast for him.  
"KAGOME! GET DOWN!" Inuyasha shouted to her.  
Kagome was too frozen by fear to move. Before she could make a second thought, Itaru was on top of her, preparing to use his razor sharp claws on her.  
"ITARU! STOP IT! CAN YOU HEAR ME, ITARU!? ITS ME!" Kagome tried to reason with him.  
Itaru seemed to understand what she was saying, but shook his head and posed to strike again.  
"ITARU! ITS ME, YOUR MOTHER! DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE?!" Kagome pleaded.  
Itaru growled, but did not move.  
"Don't you remember the stars?! How we used to go outside and pick out our own?! Don't you remember all the memories you shared with us!? Don't you remember your lullaby that your father taught us!? Don't you remember anything?!"  
Itaru's eyes softened. The marks on the side of his face began to fade.  
'It's working!' Kagome thought.  
"There, Itaru…it's alright." Kagome said as she put her hand up to his face. He had a dazed look on his face; he was calm and made no motions. But then in his mind, a whisper came once more: _WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! KILL HER! KILL HER AND BRING HER FLESH TO ME!"_  
Itaru's face scrunched up in a ferocious scowl. He posed again to strike her. Inuyasha ran over to them as fast as he could.  
"ITARU NOOO!"  
His claws were nearly upon her until suddenly, she heard a familiar whizzing sound. Kagome looked up to see that a sacred arrow had hit Itaru in the neck. Where the arrow had pierced his neck, the dragon scales turned white and fell off. Itaru fell to the side, still paralyzed by shock.  
"Who in the world fired that arrow?!" Inuyasha thought aloud.  
They turned in the direction in which it came. Standing in the hole that Inuyasha and Itaru had created earlier, *Kagome stood leaning against the hellhound, Haji.  
"K-k-Kagome!" Inuyasha exclaimed  
'did I really fire that arrow?!' Kagome thought.  
"Inuyasha! Get the tetsusaiga quickly!" *Kagome commanded.  
"Okay…" Inuyasha said. He drew the tetsusaiga from its sheath as he was told.  
"Now! Use the backlash wave on Itaru!" *Kagome said.  
"WHAT?!"" Both Inuyasha and Kagome shouted.  
"Just do it! Do it quickly!"  
"ARE YOU CRAZY!? I CANT USE THE BACKLASH WAVE ON ITARU! HE ISNT USING A DEMONIC ATTACK AND NOT TO MENTION IT WOULD _KILL _HIM!" Inuyasha yelled to *Kagome.  
"He's right!" Kagome affirmed.  
"You don't understand right now! Just use the backlash wave and Itaru will be fine!" *Kagome said.  
Itaru moaned and slowly got up.  
"Itaru!" Kagome cried. She went over to the boy who was clutching the arrow in his neck.  
"Itaru, are you alright?" Kagome asked.  
Inuyasha smiled and said, "See? He doesn't need all that! He's just fine!" Inuyasha said.  
"You don't understand you idiot! Use the backlash wave now!" *Kagome shouted to them again.  
"What are you talking about?!" Kagome said. She turned to Itaru again and patted him on the back.  
"Now, show them you're okay Itaru!" Kagome said hopefully.  
However, Itaru was not feeling well at all. Itaru's body was extremely hot. His eyes were wide with an unknown pain, he clutched his chest as it rose and fell with ragged breaths.  
"Itaru! What's wrong?" Kagome said.  
"My chest! I feel like I'm burning up! GAAAAAH!" Itaru cried and started panting. His panting grew worse and worse until he started convulsing and crying out in pain.

"IT BURNS! IM BURNING! IM ON FIRE! AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Itaru started scratching his chest fervently, trying to alleviate some sort of pain. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he began to foam at the mouth.

"Itaru..." Kagome whispered in shock and fear at what was happening before her very eyes.  
"Now do you see?! His demonic powers are being eaten away by the spiritual powers of the arrow and that of his own nature! If you don't act quickly, Itaru _WILL DIE_! *Kagome said.

Inuyasha stood in a shocked daze, trying to process what was happening.

"_INUYASHA!_" *Kagome shouted.

Kagome looked over to see Inuyasha, and saw tears in his eyes. He looked over to Kagome with desperate, confused eyes. Kagome felt his emotion and fear of killing his own son. Kagome woefully remembered what Myoga said two days ago,

_"Eventually, the purifying qualities of their human blood will eradicate the demon blood, and when that happens their hearts will simply stop beating…" _

But there seemed to be no other option. Even if Inuyasha did kill him, he would be putting him out of his misery. Kagome realized this and simply nodded to him.  
Inuyasha breathed a heavy sigh and picked up the tetsusaiga. He concentrated his energy and saw the outflow of Itaru's demonic aura.  
'Is this what I'm supposed to use to fuel the backlash wave?' Inuyasha thought.  
Then with a renewed sense of confidence, Inuyasha raised his tetsusaiga and aimed it at Itaru.  
"Alright! Here goes nothing! BACK LASH WAVE!"  
A swirl of energy tore through the air and right at its target. But instead of tearing Itaru into little pieces, the swirl of demonic energy hit him square in the chest and was flung high into the air.  
The boy fell with a loud thud to the ground.  
"ITARU!" Kagome cried as she ran over to him. She checked his vitals and saw that he was just unconscious.  
"He's okay...Inuyasha, how did you do that?!" Kagome asked.  
"I...I don't know...all I saw was Itaru's demonic aura surging out of him and I used that to create the backlash wave..."

"What you just did was simply one of Tetsusaiga's restoring properties..." said *Inuyasha/Kagome.  
"What do you mean?" Inuyasha asked.  
"As you might already know, tenseiga and tetsusaiga were once one sword. After the two split, tetsusaiga retained a small fraction of tenseiga's healing properties. This is how it works..." *Inuyasha/Kagome said, crouching over Itaru.  
"All half demons are different. Some half demons may have more demonic powers than others, depending on the parents. In you, Inuyasha is the blood of a very powerful demon; so naturally, your demonic nature will be more powerful. If the situation ever arises where you lose control of your demonic blood, you cannot revert back without some outside assistance..." *Inuyasha/Kagome explained.  
"So that's why when I say the si...I mean, S-I-T, Inuyasha turns back to normal!" Kagome said.  
Inuyasha scowled at the memories of having to be brought back from a demonic rampage by one of Kagome's 'Sit' commands.  
"That's right. However, Itaru, Meimei and other mixed breeds are different. In itaru and Meimei, the ratio of demonic and human blood is equal in potency. Making the inner struggle for power between the different blood types even more troublesome. That being said, the two blood types keep each other in check. If Itaru becomes a full demon, the spiritual properties of his human blood will fight to regain control of his body...but the downside of that is, since I am no ordinary human, the spiritual properties in my blood are twice as powerful. In Itaru, this is very dangerous. For when itaru becomes a full demon and his human blood rises up to take back control of his body, his human blood risks eradicating his demonic blood completely."  
The two gasped and looked to the unconscious boy in the middle of them.  
"And that's where the tetsusaiga comes in. the tetsusaiga uses the demonic aura that is being pushed out of Itaru's body as the second ingredient to make the backlash wave. That combined with inuyasha's demonic energy is just enough to restore the balance."

There was a moments silence between them all.

"So, do you understand all of that?" *Kagome asked.  
"Yeah...but if all that is true, why did you need to shoot him in the neck with a sacred arrow?" Inuyasha asked.  
"Oh, that was to get rid of the dragon scales...and speaking of which, _you _might want to get those off of you yourself." *Kagome said.  
"Y-Y-YOU'RE NOT GOING TO SHOOT ME WITH A SACRED ARROW ARE YOU?!" Inuyasha said, scrambling away in panic.  
"Oh heavens no. I intend to use a much gentler method..." *Kagome said.  
"Phew! Haha! That's a relief! I thought I would have to go through that whole Kikyo fiasco all over again!" Inuyasha said.  
Kagome rolled her eyes at the mention of her rival's name.  
"Nope. Not at all." *Kagome assured.  
"Okay...soo...now what?" Inuyasha said.  
"I just need you to do one thing for me..." *Kagome asked, standing in front of Inuyasha with a wide grin on her face.  
"What's that?" Inuyasha said.

"_STRIP._" *Kagome said simply.

Both Kagome and Inuyasha were completely dumbfounded with confusion written on both of their faces.

"...come again...?" Inuyasha choked.

"Take your clothes off. We need to make sure all of the dragon scales are gone!" *Kagome said.

"Uhhhhh..." Inuyasha breathed.  
"Just do it." *Inuyasha/Kagome said.  
"Fine fine!" Inuyasha said, and began to take off his fire rat robe. Kagome had no idea what she was witnessing and simply stared.  
"WOULD YOU TURN AROUND ALREADY?!" Inuyasha yelled to Kagome. Kagome let out a little squeak and quickly averted her eyes.  
"I don't see why you're making this such a big fat deal. You already know what's going to happen to you both, so get used to seeing each other." *Kagome said, placing her hands on the patches of dragon scales that were scattered across his body. Where she placed her hands, the dragon scales would fall right off.  
"BUT WE ARE NOT MARRIED RIGHT NOW. SO WE'RE GONNA CARRY ON AS IF WE DONT KNOW A THING!" Inuyasha hissed through his teeth. He was completely naked and his face was redder than his kimono.  
*Kagome simply giggled to herself.  
"ARE YOU ALMOST DONE?! THIS IS GETTING MORE AND MORE UNCOMFORTABLE!" Inuyasha said.  
"Almost, dear...oops! Sorry, that one slipped out!" *Kagome said coyly.

Kagome sighed for a moment and retreated into her thoughts.  
'Thank goodness Itaru is okay now...but I wonder how everyone else is? Have they made it to the top yet?'

~*0*~

Jaken and Shippo ran up the stairs to find the relic that controlled the climate inside of the dragon demon's lair: the kaji no Ishi. It seemed as if they had been running forever.  
"How in the world are we supposed to find this stupid thing!? We've been running forever!" Shippo panted.  
"How am I supposed to know where it is?! I'm just as lost as you!" Jaken squawked.

"Awww! We'll _never _find it at this pace!" Shippo cried.

"Oh would you quit your blubbering!" Jaken shouted. When they both looked ahead, they came to a three pronged fork in their path.

"AND NOW THIS! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHICH DOOR IS THE RIGHT DOOR!" Shippo shouted out of frustration.

"Have no fear little one! I, master Jaken, have a solution!" Jaken said proudly.

"Oh do you?" asked Shippo sarcastically.

"Behold! The staff of two heads!" Jaken declared as he stood his staff up straight.  
"What are you doing?! There is nothing to burn, you idiot!" Shippo said.  
"Oh ho ho! Shows how much you know, child! What you see here is no ordinary staff. It has the capabilities to create fire, yes, but its main purpose is to find holy and sacred relics! Why, how do you think we found Lord Sesshomaru's tetsusaiga?" Jaken said.  
"Don't you mean _Inuyasha's _tetsusaiga?" Shippo said.  
"SILENCE! IT WAS DESTINED FOR LORD SESSHOMARU! IT ALWAYS HAS AND IT ALWAYS WILL BE!" Jaken squawked, "Now back to what I was saying...this legendary staff will show us where the kaji no ishi is located!"  
"Great idea! But one question..." Shippo began.  
"And what is that?" Jaken asked.  
"WHY DID YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT BEFORE?!" Shippo shouted.  
"I WAS USING IT AS A FINAL OPTION! THIS IS A VERY DELICATE INSTRUMENT! I CANT GO AROUND USING IT ANY OLD WAY!" Jaken shouted back.  
"Yeah right...you didn't think of it until just now, I know it!" Shippo said.  
"Hmph!" Jaken grunted. He grasped the staff and put it in the middle of the forked path.  
"Now, mighty staff! Show us the way in which we should go! Reveal to us the kaji no ishi!"

The staff began to levitate and floated forward with the old man's head facing forward. Then, it turned a complete 360 degrees and started to float out into the dark space beyond the path.  
"WAIT WAIT! WHERE ARE YOU GOING!?" Jaken called after the staff.  
"It's going out into the darkness!" Shippo said.  
"Well, we can't just let it go! Follow that staff!" Jaken commanded.  
Shippo transformed into his bubble form and followed the staff. The staff hovered quite a distance away from the stairs and soon they disappeared.  
"H-h-hey Jaken...are you sure we can trust your staff?" Shippo stuttered.  
"OF COURSE WE CAN! IT HAS NEVER FAILED!" Jaken said.  
They both noticed that the staff slowed down. And in front of it appeared a small floating island in the middle of the abysmal darkness.  
"Hey! What is that up ahead?" Shippo asked.  
"It's the kaji no ishi I'm sure of it!" Jaken shouted.  
"Yes! Let's get closer and switch 'em!" Shippo said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
YAAAY! Making a lot of progress! It won't be long at all guys!

KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING!


	33. Chapter 33: reaching the top

**Inuyasha Regashi chapter 33: Reaching the Top**

"This is great! we found it!" Shippo cheered.

"I told you the staff of two heads never fails!" Jaken said pridefully.

The two approached the island and Shippo reverted to his normal form. they approached the shrine where the kaji no ishi was held. the stone glowed with a warm, sparkling glow.

"Now if you dont mind, I will do the honors!" Jaken said pretentiously.

"Hey! who said you could do it!?" Shippo said.

"Well it was my staff that found it!" Jaken huffed.

"So what?! Meimei gave me the Kori no Ishi, not you!" Shippo shouted, clutching the Kori no Ishi to himself.

"GIVE ME THAT STONE!" Jaken shouted as he tackled Shippo for the stone. They tried to wrestle the stone away from each other, but it slipped from both of their hands. The kori no ishi bounced and rolled dangerously close to the edge of the floating island. Shippo and Jaken held their breaths in fear. When it stopped they sighed in relief.

"Well that was a close one. SEE WHAT YOU COULD HAVE DONE YOU STUPID BOY!?" Jaken scolded.  
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING STUPID, YOU LITTLE TOAD!?" Shippo said, bonking Jaken in the head with his staff. When Jaken landed on the ground, the force from his fall caused the kori no ishi to fall over the edge.

"NOOOOO! THE KORI NO ISHI!" Shippo and Jaken screamed horrifically.

"YOU INSUFFFERABLE SIMPLETON! YOU LOST IT!" Jaken squawked.  
"WELL ARENT WE QUICK TO SPREAD THE BLAME? YOU ARE JUST AS GUILTY AS I AM!" Shippo shouted back.  
"WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW!? MY LORD WILL BE SO DISAPPOINTED IN ME!" Jaken said, crying.

"H-hey, look at it this way:the kori no ishi cant be that powerful! I think Inuyasha and the others will do just fine!" Shippo reassured.  
"Do you really think so?" Jaken murmured, looking up at Shippo with a hopeful face.  
"Err, yeah! you should have more faith! They'll do just fine!" Shippo said.  
"Yes! you're right! more faith in my lord Sesshomaru's abilities!" Jaken echoed.  
There was a moment of silence between them.

"So... what are we supposed to tell them when they find out we lost it?" Jaken said.

~*0*~

**Ryukoushi let out a bellowing laugh as he watched the sun near its end. "You are all too late! even if you were to somehow make it here in time, you can do nothing! Father, I hope you are ready!" the sunlight gleaming in Ryukoushi's eyes made it seem as if they were glowing.**

"And you, Naraku: are you ready to witness the reawakening of a god?!" Ryukoushi asked.

"Oh im ready..." Naraku said, grinning.

"Ahhh, i have been awaiting this day for so long!" Ryukoushi said. He snapped his fingers and the torches around the balcony and around the altar where *Inuyasha's body lay. Inuyasha's skin was a pale white in the light of the fire.  
Ryukoushi approached the altar, a long naginata forming in his hand. He prepared to raise it but he heard a sound from the door behind him.

"Well, my dog brother...you have come after all..."

~*0*~

**Sesshomaru walked through an empty, dark corridor silently. He could feel that he was very close to his destination. When he came to the end of the corridor, he found a staircase made out of plain wood. He could smell the scent of Ryukoushi and Naraku leading up the stairway.**

"So this is where you are hiding?" Sesshomaru thought before sprinting up the stairs. he reached the door at the top and blasted through and found himself on the outside.

The sun was nearly at the horizon. Ryukoushi was holding his naginata and preparing to sacrifice Inuyasha's body.

"Ryukoushi." Sesshomaru said loudly and with authority.

"Ahh, my dog brother. you have come to join the ceremony?" Ryukoushi said.

"Hardly. i have merely come to finish the job my brother didnt have the nerve to finish." Sesshomaru said.

"Oh your brother, eh? the last time I checked you hate him with all of your being, isnt that true, Sesshomaru?" Ryukoushi said.

"Him, along with you and that disgusting creature standing behind you called Naraku." Sesshomaru said.  
"Well greetings and salutations to you as well, Sesshomaru. I thought you would be glad to see me. just see it as another chance to try and kill me; or will you let you little brother take that away from you again?"

"It would be wise to shut that mouth of yours, Naraku. I will have absolutely no mercy on you."

"Well then, my dog brother...shall we?" Ryukoushi said.

"Hmph..." Sesshomaru grunted as he drew out bakusaiga.  
the two daiyoukai charged at each other with blinding speed. their weapons clashed together and stared each other down.

"Ahh, the sweet memories. I remember how we used to sparr as children. You were always such a spoiled sport. And it seems like you still are today. You see, thats what seems to be the problem with your kind. Too principled. Trying to act like something you're not. you are demons, for heavens sake. you should really start acting like one." Ryukoushi said.

"If by acting like a demon, you mean ruling my lands as you and your father have for the past 500 years; terrorizing the lands under my rule, making sport of murdering innocents, and neglecting my own people? If thats how it is, perhaps I should make a new standard!" Sesshomaru grunted as he pushed Ryukoushi back.

"Oh now you sound just like your father...justice this and equality that. what a pretentious, self righteous whelp!" Ryukoushi taunted.

"What did you say?!" Sesshomaru growled.

"Listen here Sesshomaru, and I will tell you a little secret: If you dont get with the times, you will fail and fail miserably. look around you! Man and beast are turning against one another in a struggle over land! It is, and pardon my reference: a dog eat dog world. Exploiting your resources is a normal rule in the game. And the humans dont give a damn. once they figure out that you have become soft, they will rise up and take hold of the land that you and your ancestors have worked so hard to protect. so why dont you follow my example: instill fear in them; that is the only way you can keep them in check." Ryukoushi said.

"pardon me Ryukoushi, but I do not think that this is a 'game' as you call it-"

" Im only telling you this because i care about you... you are my greatest friend, after all." Ryukoushi said.

"You do a terrible job of lying, Ryukoushi." Sesshomaru said.

"Oh, harsh!" Ryukoushi said, slashing at Sesshomaru's head. He managed to duck and jump away and stood in front of Inuyasha's body, seeming to guard it.

"Well, isnt that adorable! you do care about him after all!" Ryukoushi said.

Sesshomaru grunted at his comment.

"Oh dont be so bashful, Sesshomaru! I cared for my younger siblings as well; So much that I exterminated them, so they wouldn't have to compete for the throne when the time came...Ahh, competition can sure bring out the worst in people. But of course, you know that already..."

"Your humor does not amuse me." Sesshomaru said plainly.

"Oh it doesnt, does it? Well, maybe this will: SEIRYUU STRIKE!" Ryukoushi shouted as he raised his naginata and released a blue colored ball of energy.

At the last moment, Sesshomaru grabbed *Inuyasha's body and leapt away. When he landed, he carefully set his body down on the ground.

'Hmph. Ryukoushi is powerful: But not enough to match me in strength. I merely need to divert him until the sunset has passed.'

"I know what you are probably thinking...You are probably thinking about stalling our battle so that I cannot make the sacrifice. but I assure you, that I am one step ahead of you...Naraku?" Ryukoushi said.

"Right away, master Ryukoushi..." Naraku said. his arm turned into massive tentacles that broke into the floor.

'What is this fool planning?' Sesshomaru thought.

~*0*~

**Inuyasha finished redressing himself and put the tetsusaiga back in its sheath. He walked over to where the two Kagomes were tending to their unconscious son. *Kagome applied some of her medicine to Itaru's wound and wrapped a bandage around his neck.  
"There, that should do for now."  
"Thank you for your help. if it weren't for you, someone would have gotten killed." Kagome said.  
"Yeah, I'll say." Inuyasha said. "Even so, why are you moving around so much!? You're still pregnant you know!"  
"dont know. i guess its the stubborn streak in me that wont stay where im told." *Kagome said.  
"And of course, you know yourself well enought that you wouldnt do it either. You see, with your soul inside of me, I cant always control what I do..."**

"So you're saying I made you come?" Inuyasha said unamused.  
"Well, lets just say I didnt put up much of a fuss." *Kagome said.

Inuyasha grunted to himself for a moment, before they all heard a rumbling from above them.

"What is that?" Kagome asked indirectly.

"I smell Naraku! he's coming this way!" Inuyasha said.

Both Kagomes readied their bows and arrows and awaited their enemy's arrival. A loud explosion boomed and several giant tentacles emerged from the ceiling. Before they knew what was happening, the tentacles grabbed Inuyasha and began to drag him up through the ceiling.

"He's taking Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted.

"Go after him, I'll take care of Itaru!" *Kagome commanded.

Kagome nodded and managed to jump on one of the tentacles going up.

"Inuyasha! are you okay?!" Kagome asked.

"Yeah! im fine! but I have an idea! these tentacles will most likely take us straight to Naraku or Ryukoushi! so hang on tight!" Inuyasha said.

"Okay!" Kagome replied.

The tentacles went t"hrough the whole castle, along the way they saw many of their friends. *Miroku and *Sango were running up the stairs to the top.

"Hey! thats the future Sango and Miroku!" Kagome thought out loud.

"Is that Kagome and Inuyasha?!" *Miroku said.  
"It is them! lets grab on!" *Sango said. they both took a big leap and latched on to the tentacles.

"*Miroku! *Sango! are you two okay?!" Kagome called.

"We're just fine! we're glad you two are okay!" *Miroku said.  
"These tentacles must belong to Naraku! are you going to follow it?" *Sango said.  
"Yes! It should lead us right to them!" Kagome said.  
"Then it must be near time for the ceremony to take place..." *Miroku said.

After that, they burst through the ceiling of one room and through the floor of another.  
next they saw Kazuka and meimei catching up with each other.

"Whoa! look at that!" meimei exclaimed as she saw the mass of tentacles. "WAIT! THATS MY MOMMY AND PAPA!

"Grab on to this!" Kazuka said, a whip of light lashed from her fingers and grabbed hold of one of the tentacles. They swung from the staircase and onto one of the tentacles.

"MOMMY!" meimei called.

"Meimei! Are you okay?!" Kagome asked.

"Im okay! Whats happening?!" meimei asked.

"We believe that this will take us to the top of the castle! just hang on!" Kagome explained.

"Okay!"

They soon spotted Miroku and Sango from the present. They had just finished slaying ginkotsu and saw the tentacles as well.

"Follow those tentacles!" Sango said. The two ran up and jumped on the tentacles just as everyone else had.

"Thats almost everyone...hey! you guys! where is Shippo?!" and Jaken?!" Kagome called to them.

"It depends on which one you're asking about!" Miroku shouted back. "The Shippo we know went with Kazuka, Meimei and Jaken. the other *Shippo was with us, but we told him to go ahead of us!"  
"In either case, we should see him soon!" Sango said.

And right on cue, they saw *Shippo trudging up the stairs with his scythe slung over his shoulder.

"Shippo! GRAB ON!" they all called to him. he jumped off of the stair case and flew after them.  
"Is there some kind of party that I wasnt invited to?" he said floating in front of Inuyasha.

"Just grab on to the damn tentacles, Shippo..." Inuyasha growled.

*Shippo instead followed close behind them and up through the ceiling they went. Jaken and Shippo were still on the miniature island where the kaji no ishi was held. however, the others did not see them. But Jaken and Shippo did.

"HEY! ITS INUYASHA AND KAGOME! MIROKU AND SANGO TOO!"  
"LADY KAZUKA!" Jaken shouted after them. but their voices were not heard.

"They're too far away! we need to go after them!" Shippo said. he transformed into his ball shape and Jaken hopped on top of him.

"ONWARD!" Jaken commanded.

"HEY WATCH IT! IM NOT YOUR HORSE!" Shippo snapped.

"Well, you might as well be...you just as much sense as one..." Jaken said with a smirk on his face.

Shippo paused for a moment.

"Hey Jaken..." Shippo asked.

"What is it?" Jaken replied.

"Can *kappa demons fly?" Shippo said.

"Of course not!why would you..." Jaken began before realizing what Shippo was alluding to.

"I thought so..." Shippo said triumphantly. they followed the tentacles up toward what seemed to be the final ceiling.

"We're almose there! I know it!" Kagome said.

"Yeah, I can smell Naraku's wretched stench!" Inuyasha said.

As predicted, the tentacles surfaced to the top and they all came face to face with Ryukoushi and Naraku.

"Good work, Naraku. you even got his friends." Ryukoushi said.

"NarakuUUUUU!" Inuyasha shouted.

"Though I believe Inuyasha is all we need for this ceremony. Naraku, would you please?" Ryukoushi commanded.

"Of course..." Naraku complied. he shook the tentacles to make the rest of the gang fall of and on to the floor, while only Inuyasha remained.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried.  
"PAPA!" meimei echoed.

"Ryukoushi, im suprised at how dense you are. you're outnumbered now." Sesshomaru said.

"Haha, it seems that way doesnt it? well then, why dont we even things up a little bit? MEN?!" Ryukoushi called out.

Suddenly, they were surrounded by a large group of soldiers.

"Sesshomaru, meet the Seiryuu Seventy-seven. These are my elite warriors that have trained across this country and even a little bit on the continent. They have battled armies twenty times their size and have never lost a battle.I hope they prove to be entertaining for you..." Ryukoushi said.

"Hah. childs play." Sesshomaru scoffed.

"Childs play you say? Speaking of children, where is your daughter, Sesshomaru?" Ryukoushi asked with a devious smirk.

'My daughter...?' Sesshomaru thought. Then he heard a familiar scream from behind him. He turned to see one of Ryukoushi's soldiers dangling Kazuka over the edge.

'Kazuka!'

"I hope you taught your daughter how to fly, Sesshomaru...Ryushin?" Ryukoushi hinted. the soldier nodded and threw Kazuka over the edge of the balcony.

"KAZUKA!" the group cried.

"LADY KAZUKA!" Jaken yelled as he ran and jumped after her.

Sesshomaru started after his daughter and dropped *Inuyasha's body to the ground.

"SHIPPO! LETS GO!" meimei commanded.  
"Right!" Shippo transformed again into his ball form and they both jumped over the edge to save the princess.

"YOU FOOL!" Ryukoushi barked in laughter.  
"INUYASHA''S BODY!" Kagome cired  
One of Ryukoushi's soldiers dragged the body right to him. Ryukoushi grabbed his naginata again and lifted it up to strike.

"EXCELLENT! JUST EXCELLENT! YOU MAY TRY AND RESIST ALL YOU WISH, BUT YOUR EFFORTS ARE IN VAIN!RESIGN YOURSELVES TO THE NETHERWORLD AND WITNESS THE REBIRTH OF A GOD!

The tentacles around Inuyasha's neck began to sharpen until they were like knives. They were beginning to cut deep into Inuyasha's skin.

"Now everything is coming together at last! This is going perfectly! two heads to give to the rebirth of my father! And after he is revived, he can devour the last remaining of the dog demon clan, and nothing will be able to stop me!"

"Forgive me for contradicting you, lord Ryukoushi, but I believe it will be three heads in offering to your father..."

"What are you talking about?" ryukuoushi implored.

Before he knew it, he felt many arms around him. He heard chuckles behind him and looked up to see none other than Naraku standing behind him.

"I do believe you are missing one head, lord Ryukoushi: yours."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DUN DUN DUUUUN!  
FINALLY, THE MOMENT YOU HAVE ALLLL BEEN WAITING FOR! THE FINAL BATTLE COMMENCES! UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER!

I estimate that there will be three to four more chapters to go, not including the epilogue. but it wont be long at all! the end is in sight!  
classes start tomorrow. So I will update whenever the time is available.  
KEEP THOSE REVIEWS COMING!

Kappa demon: a kind of water deity or sprite in japanese shinto/buddhist mythology. It is believed that that is what Jaken is.  
source: inuyasha wikia  



	34. Chapter 34: power struggle

Dearest readers,  
I am deeply deeply sorry about the long delay in this chapter. With school starting and moving into a new apartment and just trying to get everything done and straightened out, things have gotten out of hand. Some of you mentioned that in the last chapter it was a little confusing and I apologize for that too. It actually turned out a lot better than I anticipated, so that was good.  
but here is the new chapter, hope you like!

Inuyasha Regashi chapter 34

Ryukoushi struggled against Naraku's tentacles in effort to break free.

"Naraku! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Ryukoushi bellowed.

"Oh, I thought you would have realized by now. After all, it was you who said we think a lot alike. Tell me, Ryukoushi: did you not think to exterminate me after you had fufilled your purpose like you did with the band of seven?" Naraku said.

Ryukoushi did not answer.

"Heheh, I had a feeling that was the case. However, I am several steps ahead of you. In case you haven't heard, I am a master strategist; perhaps you could sit down and take a few notes..." Naraku continued.

"HAH! FROM YOU?! A SOILED HALF DEMON!? AND NOT EVEN A HALF DEMON, A HUMAN WHO SACRIFICED HIS BODY TO A HORDE OF DEMONS! DONT MAKE ME LAUGH!" Ryukoushi chuckled.

"I am a true demon! one of the finest breeds in this realm and possibly the whole world! I was born and raised in excellence, while you were merely created out of desperation! HOW CAN YOU EVEN DREAM OF OVERCOMING ME!" Ryukoushi shouted.

"Born and raised in excellence, huh? Then tell me Ryukoushi, what is the main ingredient that is required to revive a fellow member of the dragon demon clan?" Naraku asked.

"Why are you asking this?! You already know! thats the whole reason I revived you, you dumb bastard!" Ryukoushi shouted.

"Hahahaha!" Naraku chortled. jumped up in the air and above Ryukotsusei's body.

"OH NO! Ryukoushi!" Kagome cried.

"whats the matter, Kagome?!" Miroku asked.

"Why are you worried about Ryukoushi!? He's our enemy!" *Shippo said.

"When Inuyasha and I were at the bottom of the castle, we found this scroll and when we read it, the soul of the chief elder of the dragon demon clan appeared to us. He told us that Ryukoushi's plan to sacrifice Inuyasha wouldn't work: because what the sacrifice needs is the flesh of a full blooded dragon demon!" Kagome explained.

The others gasped in shock.

"Heheheh...so you figured it out, did you? Well, its much too late now..." Naraku chuckled.

"I'll stop him before he gets a chance!" Sessshomaru declared, flying towards Naraku.

"Sessshomaru!" Inuyasha cried.

"Now, Ryukoushi, I think you have one more lesson to learn..." said.

"What is that?!" Ryukoushi replied.

"This is what happens when your arrogance and ignorance get the best of you!" Naraku said sinisterly.

Naraku loosened his grip on Ryukoushi and dropped him above ryuukotsusei's head.

"Ryukotsusei! ARISE AND FEAST ON YOUR TASTY MEAL!"

The eyes of Ryukotsusei glowed with life. as soon as he smelled the scent of food, his jaws opened wide to receive.

"WAIT FATHER! NO! IT IS I, YOUR SON! DONT DO THIS!" Ryukoushi begged as he fell.

"NO!" Sessshomaru shouted as he sped up. But he was too late. when Ryukoushi was inside of his mouth, his jaws snapped shut, sealing Ryukoushi's fate.

"OH NO!" Kagome cried.

"DAMMIT!" Inuyasha cursed.

Suddenly, they felt a mighty earthquake around them. They watched as the massive serpentine body of Ryukotsusei break free of his bondage inside of the mountain on the side of the castle. the dragon demon let out a fearsome roar that shook the ground in which everyone stood.  
The eyes on the face on top of Ryukotsusei's head opened wide and stared at his opponents.  
"AHAHAHA! AS ALWAYS, YOU ARE TOO SLOW! YOUR FATES HAVE BEEN SEALED!" Naraku declared.

Sessshomaru set his sights on Naraku and charged at him. however, he was cut off by Ryukotsusei. Sessshomaru came face to face with the giant.  
"Toooouuuuuu..." Ryukotsusei growled.

'What?' Sessshomaru thought.

"What is he saying?" Inuyasha thought out loud.

Ryukotsusei's growls became deeper and louder until it was an all out roar.

"TOOOOOOUUUGAAAAAAAAA!"

"Touga? who is that?" Sango asked.

"That name...I've heard it once before..." Inuyasha wondered aloud.

"No, Ryukotsusei. i am not the *demon who fought and defeated you 200 years ago. I am his eldest son: the one who will defeat you for good!"

"Impudent...cur...!" Ryukotsusei growled before opening his mouth to release a large ball of energy. When it fired, Sessshomaru barely dodged it. the ball of energy collided with the castle and dissintegrated easily in the wake of the attack.

"What power!" *Miroku exclaimed.  
"That could have been Sessshomaru!" Sango said.  
"Or us if we were still in there..." *Sango chimed.

When they looked around them, the soldiers bowed subserviantly to their new and revived ruler.

"I see you are as eager as ever, old one. but I am sure you are tired. Let me put you back to rest!" Sessshomaru said as he drew out bakusaiga. Sessshomaru charged head on towards his opponent. Ryukotsusei opened his mouth to prepare for another attack. Sessshomaru did not waiver and headed straight towards him.

"Sessshomaru! That idiot! He's going to get hit! Did he not just see what happened there!?" Inuyasha wondered aloud.

The ball of energy fired from Ryukotsusei's mouth and hurled straight at Sessshomaru. Sessshomaru dived right under it and swung at Ryukotsusei's torso. Ryukotsusei fell backwards and crashed into the mountain.

"Hmph." Sessshomaru huffed.

'Very impressive Sessshomaru...' Naraku said to himself.  
"HEY YOU GUYS! I COULD USE A LITTLE HELP GETTING DOWN HERE!" Inuyasha shouted to his companions down below.  
"Oh right!" Kagome remembered.  
"Im on it!" *Shippo volunteered. *Shippo floated up to Inuyasha and cut him out of the tentacles with his scythe.  
"Thanks, it was getting a little cramped in there!" Inuyasha said.

"What are we going to do? Ryukotsusei is at full power, and who knows what Naraku is going to do!" Sango said.

"Sessshomaru thinks that we cant see it, but he seems more cautious around Ryukotsusei...almost like he is afraid of him..." *Miroku said.

"I would be scared too, if the one who was responsible for my almighty father's death was standing right in front of me..." *Sango said.

'Miroku is right...he does seem a little bit edgier than usual...is this guy really that strong? i mean, when I fought him, he didnt seem that much of a threat...but maybe that was because he wasn't at full strength when Naraku woke him up..."

"Ryukotsusei, it appears that you need some assistance. allow me to lend you a hand..." Naraku said as the tentacles from his back began reaching towards Ryukotsusei's face on top of his head.

Ryukotsusei growled and released a ball of energy and fired it towards Naraku. Naraku did not have time to dodge and the energy blast hit him head on.

"Wow! he got him!" Kagome exclaimed.  
"Now that one nuisance is out of the way..." Sessshomaru thought out loud. "Ryukotsusei, we were in the middle of something..."

Ryukotsusei turned to face Sessshomaru and then charged at him. Sessshomaru narrowly dodged and found himself behind his opponent. Sessshomaru used bakusaiga once again and made a slight dent in Ryukotsusei's impenetrable armor.

"He got him!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Yes, but he merely made a dent in his armor..." Miroku mentioned.

Inuyasha jumped up to a pillar to get a better view of the battle. In the midst of the fight, Inuyasha noticed something small approaching the scene.

'What is that?' Inuyasha thougth to himself. When he looked closer, he discovered that it was Naraku's floating head.

'Ryukotsusei didnt kill him! damn that filthy bastard!" Inuyasha jumped towards the battle scene and right beside Sessshomaru.

"What do you think you're doing?! This is my battle, get out of the way before you get killed!" Sessshomaru commanded.

"This is no time for calling dibs on the enemy! Naraku is still here!" Inuyasha spat.

Sessshomaru looked around and saw that Naraku was indeed still alive.

"As persistent as a rodent infestation..." Sessshomaru grumbled.  
"You're telling me!" Inuyasha replied.

Inuyasha unsheathed tetsusaiga and unleashed a wind scar. However, Naraku erected a barrier and deflected it away from himself.

"Okay! if thats how you wanna do it!" Inuyasha charged at Naraku, his tetsusaiga turning red. but he did not notice that Ryukoushi was charging up for another attack.

"Inuyasha! LOOK OUT!" Kagome shouted.  
But it was too late. Inuyasha was hit head on with Ryukotsusei's attack. He disappeared in the bright flash of light and energy. it exploded not very far from where the others were. they ducked away to escape the brunt of the impact and were unharmed.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome and the others shouted. Then they suddenly heard a booming laughter behind them.

"Hahaha! Looks like one of your warriors is out of commission for a while!" Naraku said. his head turned to Ryukotsusei, facing him eye to eye and said. "Well, Ryukotsusei, what do you say we work together to get rid of Sessshomaru, eh?"  
Ryukotsusei growled and uttered, "never...from the likes of a creature like you..."  
"Oh well thats a shame...I suppose I will have to find another way..." Naraku said before giant tentacles shot from the insides of his head. these tentacles speared into the dragon demon's face and he let out an agonizing cry.  
"I was trying to be nice and do it the easy way...but, I guess I have to do things by force..."  
Naraku drew himself closer and closer to Ryukotsusei's face.

"What is he doing?!" *Shippo thought out loud.  
"We have no time to ask questions right now! we need to stop him at all costs!" *Miroku said.  
Sessshomaru charged at both of them, swinging bakusaiga and releasing a green waves of energy. It cut through Ryukotsusei's armorous skin a little bit, but overall he was unaffected. Ryukotsusei began flailing wildly in attempt to get Naraku away from him. because of this, Sessshomaru was finding it hard to get close to them. up

'I despise admitting this, but this may prove to be harder than I first anticipated..."

…...

Meimei and Shippo in his ball form floated down to the side of the cliff under the castle balcony looking for Kazuka and Jaken.

"KAZUKAAAA! JAAAAKEEEEN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" Meimei called out.  
"I dont see them Meimei! do you think they might have..." Shippo said.  
"NO! Absolutely not! they're okay! I just know they are!  
They looked around to spot them and then they heard a familiar voice, "HEEEELLPPP! SOMEONE PLEASE SAVE US!"  
"Thats Jaken's voice!" Meimei exclaimed. They saw Kazuka hanging by her long silver hair that was snagged on a long branch shooting out from the side of the cliff. She was squirming to get free, but to no avail. Jaken was hanging onto her arm flailing wildly.  
" You stupid toad! If you don't stay still, we are both going to die!" Kazuka hissed in pain.  
"Kazuka! Hang on! We're coming! " Meimei called to her.  
Shippo hovered over to the two victims and Meimei reached her hand out to Jaken and pulled him on top of Shippo.  
"Now, let's see if we can get you out of this" Meimei said. Meimei struggled to untangle Kazuka's strands. But her hair was so thick and the sticks were very long, it was impossible to free the princess.  
" I'm sorry Kazuka, I can't untangle it." Meimei said sadly.  
" Yes you can! Now untangle me this instant !" Kazuka hissed as she squirmed.  
"Jaken could you help me please?! Meimei said impatiently. Jaken scrambled to her side. The two little hands tried hard to set the princess free. But it was still no use.  
"Ughh! I still can't get it!" Meimei said.  
" try harder, you idiot!" Kazuka said, her anger and frustration rising.  
"I'm sorry my lady, buy there is nothing we can do!" Jaken blundered with tears springing from his eyes.  
Kazuka thought for a moment and then said, "cut it off then..."  
"Cut it off?! my lady are you sure?!" Jaken squawked.  
"Yes I'm sure, now do it! Im getting tired of hanging here!"Kazuka yelled.  
"Okay! Your call!" Meimei said whipping out her chakram. and with a swish of the wind, Kazuka felt her silvery strands being severed and freed. she began to fall, but Shippo caught her with his thin arms. he urged her to climb on.  
"Are you okay now, Kazuka?" Meimei asked.  
"Do you need to ask?" Kazuka huffed. "We need to get back up there! Daddy is counting on me to help him!" Kazuka said.  
"Are you sure about that? I would think that he would want you out of the way...I mean, thats what my papa would do..." Meimei said.  
"Your papa and mine are like apples and oranges! Dont you dare start comparing them!" Kazuka spat.  
"Whatever, princess..." Meimei puffed.  
"We have no time to lose! lets go!" Kazuka commanded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

oh my god. that was probably the S***tiest chapter I've written...guhh...and I know you guys are probably disappointed now...  
next chapter will be better you have my word...

*this is the closest name we could find for Inuyasha and Sessshomaru's father. I dont like to refer to him as Inu no Taisho because that is a title, not a name.  
feel free to correct me if im wrong.


	35. Chapter 35: A duel duet!

100 REVIEWS AND 100,000+ WORDS YOU GUYS! THIS IS AMAZING! SUPER EXCITED!  
Itaru and Inuyasha: a duel duet!

Sesshomaru continued to struggle to get close to Naraku and Ryukotsusei. However, Ryukotsusei's flailing made it very difficult for the inu daiyoukai.

"Now Ryukotsusei, perhaps we got off on the wrong foot; let me try again, if you let me use your body, I will obliterate the remainders of the dog demon clan and any other foes that stand against you. You will gain all the land that you want, possibly this whole country. Now doesnt that sound better?" Naraku suggested.

"Heheh...tempting it is, but I am not interested..." Ryukotsusei said.

"Ah, I see..." Naraku sighed. Then suddenly, he shot a tentacle right through Ryukotsusei's forehead. The demon screeched a blood curdling cry that made even the soldiers of the soldiers down below shiver.

"Damn it, stand still!" Sesshomaru growled. He swung Bakusaiga, trying make his way towards Naraku.

"What the hell are we standing around here for?! Lets do something and stop Naraku!" *Shippo shouted.

As soon as those words left *Shippo's mouth, everyone began fighting. The soldiers charged at them and an all out melee ensued.

"Kagome! Do you think that you could shoot the arrow if you get up close?" *Shippo asked.

"Yes! I think I can!" Kagome affirmed.

"Hop on, then!" *Shippo urged. He transformed into his ball form. They floated into the air and flew towards Ryukotsusei until they were bombarded with flaming arrows.

"Whaaah! Whats happening?!" Kagome shouted.

They looked down to see a band of archers down below firing at them.

"It looks like you're not the only one with bows and arrows!" *Shippo said. "I'll take care of them! you save your arrows!" *Shippo said. He opened his mouth and shot a river of flames from his mouth and incinerated the archers below.

"You got them!" Kagome cheered.

"Awww, it was nothin." *Shippo said.

"Now to get this guy!" Kagome exclaimed. She posed to draw her bow and aimed for Naraku's head, where it was about to become one with Ryukotsusei's forehead.  
"Perfect!" Kagome shouted. She fired her arrow with as much force as she could muster and it was lodged into the back of Naraku's head.

"Meddling wench!" Naraku said.

"Good job, Kagome! shoot another one!" *Shippo said.

"Okay!" Kagome grabbed an arrow from her quiver, however, they did not see Ryukotsusei's tail about to run into them. The massive appendage crashed into them and made Kagome fall off of *Shippo. She dropped her quiver of arrows and tried in vain to retrieve them.  
'My arrows!'  
*Shippo dashed to catch Kagome, ignoring the arrows.  
"Shippo! my arrows!"  
They watched as the arrows fell down to the ground.  
"Alright, lets go get em!" *Shippo said.  
However, when they looked again, the remaining soldiers grabbed the arrows and began shooting at them again.  
"Oh no!" Kagome shouted.  
*Shippo breathed more fire at them, temporarily stopping their attack once more.  
"Thanks Shippo...but now I have no arrows!" Kagome said regretfully.  
"Need arrows?" they heard a familiar voice call from above. They both looked up to see *Kagome, Inuyasha and Itaru riding on top off Haji and coming towards them.  
"Inuyasha! You're alright!" Kagome gasped.  
"Yeah im fine. I dont see what you guys were so scared for, it didnt even hurt!"  
"So you were just laying down at the bottom of the castle to relax, right?" *Kagome asked cynically.  
"That was precisely what I was doing." Inuyasha said in a huff.  
"Mhmm..." Itaru mumbled before he got whacked on the upside of his head.  
"Here, Kagome." *Kagome said, handing her quiver of arrows over to her counterpart.  
"Thank you..." Kagome replied.  
"Shippo, you take her. Itaru and I are going in." Inuyasha said motioning to *Kagome. *Shippo floated himself over to them and allowed *Kagome on.  
"You two can shoot from afar off, so keep your eyes open."  
"Okay..." Kagome agreed.  
"And you do, STAY OUT OF THE WAY. BOTH OF YOU." Inuyasha warned.  
They both nodded in acknowledgement. Inuyasha and Itaru turned to their foe, who was still trying to take control of Ryukotsusei's body.  
"Lets go, Itaru!" Inuyasha exclaimed.  
"Right!" Itaru affirmed. Itaru prompted Haji to fly upwards.  
"You seriously think that you can defeat me?" Naraku said mockingly.  
Ryukotsusei began shooting bolts of lightning from his mouth to unlodge Naraku from him, but it was no use. Naraku's head attatched itself to Ryukotsusei, instead of the face on top of the dragon demon's head being his own, it became the likeness of Naraku.

"See? you're all too slow! too slow I tell you!" he roared with laughter.

Sesshomaru swung bakusaiga and pierced his side. This time, it left quite a dent in his armor-like skin.  
"Oh, its you again..." Naraku said. Sesshomaru flew along the length of the dragon's body. Suddenly, a head and then a body emerged from Ryukotsusei's body. It formed into a black, unclothed clone of Naraku. It had yellow, serpentine eyes and long claws and fangs. Sesshomaru stopped in his tracks.  
"Copies, huh? have you figured out any new tricks, Naraku?" Sesshomaru questioned. The clone chuckled and grew a sword from his hand. They charged at each other and fought on the side of Ryukotsusei's body.  
"There's uncle! what is he fighting!?" Itaru asked.  
"Probably one of Naraku's copies. He's real good at making those." Inuyasha stated.  
Meanwhile, below them, another one of Naraku's clones emerged from his body and grabbed the leg of Haji, pulling it down. The hell hound tried to shake it off, but doing so cause both Inuyasha and Itaru to fall off. Fortunately, they were able to grab onto the hairs from Ryukotsusei's mane.  
"You okay there, Itaru?!" Inuyasha shouted down to him.  
"Yeah! im fine!" meanwhile, a clone was forming behind him and preparing to attack him.  
"WATCH OUT, ITARU!" Inuyasha shouted.  
Itaru looked behind him and unsheathed his sword in defense in the nick of time. The clone laughed a menacing laugh and lengthened his neck towards Itaru.  
"Get off of me...YOU CREEP!" Itaru shouted as he pushed it back, knocking it off of Ryukotsusei's body and to the ground below.  
"good job, Itaru!" Inuyasha complimented, beginning to fight an opponent of his own.  
all arond them, more and more clones appeared from Ryukotsusei's body.  
"I dont get it! Ryukotsusei wasn't able to do this before, right!?" Itaru asked, beating back another clone.  
"No, this is Naraku's doing! Only he is able to make duplications of himself!" Inuyasha informed.  
"How are we going to keep up with all of these things?! There are so many, and they just keep coming!" Itaru exclaimed.  
"We need to stop it at the source! One of us needs to get up to Naraku's head and kill that son of a bitch once and for all!" Inuyasha shouted to him.  
"Okay! im on it!" Itaru offered. He began to run upwards toward, but was cut off by a new wall of clones. They all chuckled in chorus and shook their heads saying, "Nah ah ah...".  
"Like im going to take orders from you!" Itaru declared. He jumped over them and started running towards the head of Naraku.  
"Go! I'll back you up! you're the only one here who can truly obliterate Naraku!" Inuyasha commanded.  
"How is that?! Im not as strong as you!" Itaru argued.  
"YOUR SPIRITUAL POWERS! YOU HAVE A GIFT NO OTHER DEMON OR HANYOU HAS! YOUR SPIRITUAL COUPLED WITH YOUR DEMONIC POWERS CAN DEFEAT ANYONE, EVEN ME, ITARU!"

The boy gasped in realization. He remembered the conversation he had with his father in the past, "_Hey son, perhaps I'll tell you this later, but you have something that I don't; something that can easily defeat me!_"  
With that strong reassurance, he nodded his head solemnly and clutched Sutasaiga and stared down a crowd of clones, that were grinnning menacingly.  
"Alright, then!" Itaru replied. He ran through the throng, letting out a loud war cry.  
"OKAY, YOU FILTHY BASTARDS! COME AT ME!" he swung Sutasaiga, dismembering and slicing his opponents in half.  
"THATS MY BOY!" Inuyasha roared.  
Itaru cut down each of his enemies one by one, creating a clear path to Naraku's head.  
"Down below, everyone else, was just finishing off the remainder of the soldiers of the seiryuu seventy seven. *Shippo looked up to spot Itaru running up the length of the mighty dragon demon, slaying enemies left and right.  
"LOOK! ITS ITARU!" He shouted.  
They all looked up and realized what *Shippo was saying.  
"Look at him go!" *Sango exclaimed.  
"He's fighting them all by himself!" Miroku replied.  
"No, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are helping him!" Kagome said.  
Meimei, Kazuka, Jaken and Shippo had just come back on to the balcony and saw what was going on.  
"Daddy!"Kazuka exclaimed.  
"Whats happening?!" Shippo asked.  
"Inuyasha, Itaru and lord Sesshomaru are battling the minions created by Naraku; and Itaru is leading them!" Jaken declared.  
"really?! Thats incredible!" Shippo shouted.  
'Go big brother!' Meimei said hopefully.  
'Thats it! im almost there!' Itaru thought jubilantly to himself.  
But before he could reach the top, he was cut off by another clone. However, this one was different from all the others. It was much more muscular, had four arms and three faces and was twice Itaru's size. It lunged at Itaru with lightning speed. Itaru had no time to react and was knocked back and nearly off of Ryukotsusei's body. The clone was ready to attack again, until Sesshomaru stepped in.  
"You didnt think it would be this difficult, did you? We have defeated you before, what makes you think that this time will be any different?" Sesshomaru inquired.  
"Heheheh, you only defeated me because you had that wretch Kikyo protecting you. If it wasnt for her, you all would have perished! Now that she is no more, there is no one who can help you! The clone replied.  
"Thats where you're wrong, Naraku!" Inuyasha said, jumping in front of Sesshomaru and facing their opponent. "We still have the upper hand, even without Kikyo!"  
"Hmmm...I see..." the Naraku clone mused. He took a glance at Itaru and smirked. Naraku noticed that the aura around him was different from all the others and knew what that aura was, and knew that he had to get rid of it. A tentacle shot out from underneath Itaru and threatened to pierce his side, but Itaru was able to evade it. He jumped back on to the back of Ryukotsusei and started running again. However, everywhere he went, a giant spike would emerge right in front of him.  
'Oh no! Itaru is in danger!' Inuyasha realized and started running after him, dodging the many sharp spikes in his way. Itaru was quickly tiring from constantly dodging the many spikes that were out to skewer him alive. Suddenly, a spike erupted right next to him, catching him off guard. He stumbled backwards and was pierced by another sharp spike in his shoulder. He cried out in pain, but dislodged himself and ran even faster despite his pain.  
He was finally upon Naraku and crawled onto one of Ryukotsusei's horns.  
"Your time is up, Naraku!" Itaru declared.  
"Oh is it?" Naraku said coyly.  
"You bet your ass it is!" Itaru spat. He crawled in front of Naraku's face and positioned Sutasaiga above him.  
"Now! say your prayers! PURIFYING SUTASAIGA!" Itaru shouted. Sutasaiga began to emit a bright glow from its blade and was planted into Naraku's head. Naraku released a frightening cry, and his (Ryukotsusei's) body reeled in pain.  
"YES! GOT HIM!" Itaru exclaimed.  
But from where the blade was lodged, a thick and potent miasma spewed right into Itaru's face. Itaru stumbled back, coughing and covering his eyes. He was too close to the edge and fell off from Ryukotsusei's head.  
"ITARRRRUUUUU!" Inuyasha shouted.  
"NO!" *Kagome shrieked.  
Itaru fell a great distance next to the body of his father and was rendered motionelss.  
"Damn that little bastard!" Naraku hissed.  
"That must have caused you a lot of pain, Naraku. Allow me to end your misery!" Sesshomaru shouted, and swung bakusaiga, releasing an green wave of energy. Naraku was injured even further; Naraku fired bolts of electricity in retaliation. Sesshomaru was electrocuted and cast to the ground.  
"Now then..." Naraku said, turning to Inuyasha, who was on his neck.  
"Naraku, if that boy dies, I will personally see to it that you make your bed in hell tonight!" Inuyasha hissed.  
"Such bigh threats, but you cant back it up, can you?" Naraku sneered.  
"Count on it!" Inuyasha shouted, charging at Naraku with tetsusaiga drawn. Naraku (Ryukotsusei)'s head charged to tackle the hanyou and narrowly missed. Inuyasha was right on top of him, but Naraku fired a blue ball of energy at him, sending Inuyasha flying.

"NO! INUYASHA!" Kagome cried.

"Hahahahaha!...I have awaited this moment...Now, all of you, bow down before me and resign yourselves to the underworld!" Naraku commanded while roaring with laughter. Naraku (Ryukotsusei) opened his mouth and began charging for his next attack.

"Oh no! what is he going to do now!?" Shippo asked.  
"I dont know, but whatever it is, its going to be massive!" *Miroku answered.

"We have to get out of here! Inuyasha! Itaru! can you hear me!?" *Shippo called to them.  
"Daddy!" Kazuka cried.

But they could not hear them, they were all paralyzed and unconscious.

"EVERYONE! WE HAVE TO GET THE LITTLE ONES AS FAR AS POSSIBLE!" *Kagome shouted.  
"Right!" they all replied.  
"Mama!" Meimei cried, clinging to her mother's leg.  
"Meimei...you have to get away from here, you will get seriously hurt..." Kagome said, crouching down to her level.  
"Wont you get hurt too?! and what about papa? and Itaru?" Meimei asked.  
"We will be just fine, dearest. Dont you worry..." Kagome assured.  
Meimei stared into the eyes of her mother with longing and sorrow.  
"NO! IM NOT LEAVING MY DADDY!" Kazuka shrieked.  
"I TOO WILL NOT LEAVE FROM MY LORD'S SIDE! I AM HIS LOYAL RETAINER AND WILL FOLLOW HIM EVEN IN DEATH!" Jaken shotued.  
"ENOUGH OF THE FORMALITIES! IF YOU DIE, SESSHOMARU WONT HAVE ANY HEIRS AND THE DOG DEMON CLAN WILL SURELY CEASE TO EXIST! DO YOU WANT THAT?!" *Shippo retorted, looking Kazuka straight in the eyes.  
Kazuka was silenced.  
"Come on, Kazuka!" Shippo urged, shaking with fear. The little hanyou princess climbed on top of him and looked longingly at her father and began to cry. "I love you daddy..."  
The ball of energy was doubling and tripling in size with each second. Down below, Itaru laid next to his father's body. He moved his hands ever so slightly and pulled himself up. He shook his head to recollect his senses. When he looked up, he saw a massive ball of energy positioned right on top of him.  
"OH SHIT!" Itaru shrieked. He looked around for sutasaiga, but it was nowhere to be found.  
"DAMN IT ALL!" Itaru cursed. "WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!?" he looked over to his father's body and noticed that Tetsusaiga was still on his person.  
'TETSUSAIGA! THATS IT! I CAN USE THE BACKLASH WAVE!" Itaru realized. The boy scrambled over to *Inuyasha's body and drew tetsusaiga from its sheath. The sword pulsated three times and transformed.  
'Thank you, Tetsusaiga. Please, lend me your strength to protect my family as you have helped my father and his father before him...' Itaru prayed.  
Tetsusaiga transformed and Itaru clutched it even tighter.  
"Im the only one who can save everyone! Its going to take all of my strength!" Itaru said to himself.  
Then, the collosal ball of energy was released. The group shielded their eyes from the bright light. The air around them swirled and flattened everything in its wake. Shippo and Haji along with Jaken, Meimei and Kazuka took to the skies to get away from the wake of the blast. Anything floating near the huge energy bomb was incinerated instantly.  
"This is my only chance! NOW! _BACKLASH WAVE_!" the wind around him and tetsusaiga surged and created giant waves of wind and demoinc energy. The wave collided with the energy bomb and held it back. It took all of Itaru's power to keep the blue globe of power at bay.  
'I've managed to hold it off, but I dont know if I can push it back, its just staying in one place! I can't hold this forever!' Itaru thought to himself. In that same moment, the energy bomb began advancing towards them.  
"OH NOOO!" Kagome shouted.  
"ITARU! GET OUT OF THERE!" *Shippo shouted.  
'No! I cant escape! I cant back down now! I cant fail-!' Itaru thought to himself with frantic determination. The heat from the blast began burning his skin. He cried out in pain, but held his ground. Suddenly he felt something behind him, and an added weight to tetsusaiga. He looked to see an additional pair of hands on the hilt of the sword. Itaru turned behind him to behold his father, standing right beside him.  
"Looks like you need a hand, kid!" Inuyasha said with a smirk.  
"PA!" Itaru cried with joy, his eyes sparkling.  
"Okay, so here is what you are doing wrong, ok? you are depending on your own strength, instead of that of your enemy's. The backlash wave is entirely dependent on the youki of your opponent; the stronger the better! You use the wind scar to engulf your enemy's attack into a twister and and send it back to them! What you are doing here is just trying to use your own power to push back a force that is much bigger than yours all by yourself!" Inuyasha explained.

"Oh!" Itaru exclaimed.

"Now, lets do it the right way! do you feel that push of energy right there?" Inuyasha inquired.  
"Yeah, I believe I do..." Itaru said.  
"Thats good! Now use the wind scar and disturb that flow of wind, that will cause the attack to form a twister and send it backwards, understand?" Inuyasha instructed.  
"Yeah! I can do it!" Itaru shouted.  
"Show me, then!" Inuyasha urged.  
Itaru gripped tetsusaiga and whipped out a wind scar. The wind scar did just as predicted and disrupted the flow of energy around their enemy's attack, creating multiple swirls.  
"GREAT JOB! YOU DID IT! NOW SEND HIM TO HELL, ITARU!" Inuyasha commanded.  
"ALRIGHT! **BACKLASH WAVE**!"  
This time and it sent the the ball of energy back completely. Naraku could only watch with wide eyes and horror written on his face. He was torn to a thousand pieces, and then left his head floating in the air.

"He did it!" Kagome shouted.  
"Quick, Kagome! We have to purify Naraku before he regenerates!" *Kagome exclaimed.  
Both Kagomes quickly drew their arrows and aimed.  
"GO!" They both said in unison. They released their arrows and they shot towards their target. Suddenly, the two arrows flew close together and then became one. That single arrow struck Naraku in the middle of his forehead.

"NOOOO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! I AM INVIINCIBLEEEEEEEEE!" Naraku shrieked before being obliterated into millions of pieces.  
The fallout from the blast floated from the sky. Sesshomaru stood up and noticed that the particles were attempting to regroup. He used bakusaiga to destroy the remaining pieces of flesh and to prevent them from regenerating.

"Is it really over?' Kagome thought out loud.

They all looked around them and saw only the clearing smoke. They saw no evidence of their enemy.

"Phew! that was quite the battle! You really outdid yourself, Itaru!" Inuyasha complimented.

"Oh gee, it was nothin really!" Itaru said bashfully, scratching his head.

Suddenly, they felt an enormous earthquake.

"w-w-whats happening now?!" Sango exclaimed. The ground under them began to crumble. Pieces of the platform in which the castle stood began to fall apart and fall into the mountain.

"Oh no! the castle!" *kagome cried.

"Its going to crash into the mountains!" *Sango continued.

"We need to get out of here!" *Miroku commanded.

"Okay! KILALA!" Sango cried. Two giant felines appeared in the sky and swooped down to pick up their friends.  
The two Kagomes took off with *Inuyasha's body on *Shippo, Sesshomaru took to the skies himself.

"WAIT A MINUTE YOU GUYS! WHAT ABOUT USSS!?" Inuyasha and Itaru roared at their friends, who had just abandoned them.  
"Oh! we left them behind, *Shippo!" Kagome said.  
"Crap! I forgot all about them!" Shippo shouted.  
"C'mon Itaru!" Inuyasha urged.  
The two began running towards the edge of the balcony. Beneath them, the platform was falling appart, with the slope increasing and their speed increasing as well, they could not keep their footing and soon fell off. They fell screaming their lungs out and shouting curses at whoever was listening.  
"WHY DIDNT ANYONE STOP TO SAVE UUUSSSS!" Itaru shouted before he felt a sudden jerk and a tight grip on his wrist. He looked up to see Meimei and Kazuka on top of Haji, holding on to his arms and shoulders.  
"No one forgot you, big brother!" Meimei reassured.-  
"You guys! you were supposed to be far away from here!" Itaru reminded.  
"Would you rather us not save you? That can be arranged, you know."Kazuka snided.  
Meimei giggled, "Lets just say we're not really good at doing what we're told."

Meanwhile, Inuyasha was still falling to his doom shouting obscenities. The Kagomes were urging *Shippo to go and catch Inuyasha  
"Shippo! you have to go back!" Kagome pleaded.  
"aww do I have to?" *Shippo said jokingly.  
"SHIPPO YOU DUMB ASS! I SWEAR, WHEN I GET A HOLD OF YOU, IM GOING TO-" Suddenly, Inuyasha was cut off with a thud. Inuyasha landed head first on top of Shippo in his ball form.  
"You were saying, Inuyasha?" Shippo retorted.  
"Such an ungrateful whelp!" Jaken scolded.  
"You said it, Jaken!" Shippo agreed.

And with that, they flew away to safety. The castle fell, crumbling into the mountain behind them. In the distant horizon, light was emerging and a new day was begining.

OH. MY GOD. YOU. GUYS.  
I don't know what to say. There is just a certain feeling you get when you are able to put your imagination and thoughts onto paper. Im sure a lot of you can relate. Thats how I feel right now.  
This is great guys. I'm so happy thank you all for being so patient for me. I hope you are all very well satisfied.  
just 2-3 chapters left. I am actually half-way through these, I tend to start on future chapters while waiting for inspiration for the current one. So it wont be long at all.  
again, a thousand thanks to you all.  
Now you know the drill. I did my part, you do yours. REVIEW!  
much love,  
GoDdEsS oF tHe AbYsS


	36. Chapter 36: Family,Friends and Farewells

A/N: Hey you guys, thanks for being patient with me. This is going to be the second to last chapter of this story, and I feel its going to be a long one. And the last chapter will probably be longer. So here ya go!

Inuyasha regashi chapter 36 : Family, Friends and Farewells

The group watched from afar as the massive floating castle fell from the sky and into the side of the mountain in which the dragon demon clan resided. The remaining dragon demons whooped and shouted for joy at the overthrowing of their cruel dictator.

"I can't thank you all nearly enough." said Ryuhana to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.

"Dont mention it, we would have had to take care of him in the future anyways." Inuyasha said lightly.

"Yes I understand. But I am glad that you acted when you did. I do not think we could last another day under Ryukoushi's tyranny." Ryuhana said.

"But then what will happen to you all? Who will be your new leader?" Kagome asked.

"Oh...Well...We havent gotten that far yet. Probably one of the remaining elders..." Ryuhana said.

"I think you would make a fine leader, Ryuhana. Seeing as how you organized the rebellion in the first place. It is you we should be thanking." Miroku said.

"Oh, me? Dont be silly! I would be a terrible ruler!" Ryuhana said bashfully.

"He's right, Ryuhana! If it weren't for you and Ryuhaku, we would all still be scratching from the ground for food!" said one of the clansmen.

"Why dont you become our leader?! Whadaya say, men?!" said another. They all cheered for Ryuhana who blushed a deep red.

"I-I dont know what to say..." Ryuhana muttered.

"Yes would be a good start!" Sango said.

Ryuhana smiled and wiped away a small tear. She inhaled deeply and declared., "Well, if you wish, I will lead you the best way that I can."

Another round of cheers rose from the crowd and Inuyasha and the gang smiled.

"If that is the case, then I recognize you as the new leader of the dragon demon clan." Sesshomaru stated.

"Thank you, lord Sesshomaru. It is my greatest honor." Ryuhana said bowing.

Then, one of the clansmen ran up to the group holding something long and slender in his hand.

"Whats this?" Ryuhana said.

"Young lord!" the man called, waving his hands.

"Who is he talking to?" Kagome asked.

"And what is that he is holding?" Sango thought out loud.

When Itaru got a good look at what it was, he gasped "Its Sutasaiga!" .

The dragon demon stopped in front of them and handed Itaru his sword.

"Young...lord...your...weapon...I saved it from...the castle..." the dragon demon panted.

Itaru took a long look at his sword. Half of the blade was dissolved from Naraku's miasma and the fabric around the hilt was tattered. Itaru sighed heavily and thought, 'Look at what I did...father thought that I was responsible enough to properly use a sword...and I destroyed it.'

he felt a heavy grip on his shoulder and turned to see Inuyasha smiling down at him.

"Cheer up! its nothing Totosai can't fix! You put it to good use today and thats what we want, right?"

"Y-yeah, I suppose..." Itaru replied.

"Thank you so much for finding it!" *Kagome said.

"Oh dont mention it..." said the dragon demon.

"We should be going." Sesshomaru stated bluntly.

And with that, Inuyasha and the group departed and headed back home. Sesshomaru, Jaken and Kazuka stopped at a fork in the road and turned to the others, "This way leads home." he said simply.

"Thank you for your help, Sesshomaru." *Kagome said. Suddenly her face took on a rather unpleasant expression.

"HOLD ON A MINUTE, ARE YOU FORGETTING SOMETHING?!" *Inuyasha/Kagome shouted.

"And what is that?" Sesshomaru asked.

"YOU KNOW WHAT!" *Inuyasha/Kagome continued.

Sesshomaru stared.

"I think what he is hinting is that he was hoping that you would use tenseiga to help revive him." Kagome said.

"Now why would I ever do that?" Sesshomaru asked.

"PRECISELY! WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD LORD SESSHOMARU STOOP SO LOW AS TO -"

"Shut up Jaken." Kazuka said, bopping him on the back of his head.

"Yes, my lady..." Jaken moaned.

"I dont know...because...you're a nice and kind big brother..?" Kagome said batting her eyelashes.

"Kagome!" both Inuyashas yelled.

"Oh would you both stop with the tough guy act already!" Kagome demanded.

They both growled in defeat.

"Please, Sesshomaru..." Kagome pleaded.

Sesshomaru grunted. "There is no good reason for me to revive him...Kazuka, what do you think?"

'HES ASKING HIS DAUGHTER?!' Inuyasha thought in rage.

"Well, father...if you don't revive him, our clan would be at risk of extinction...our kingdom would fall to rebels if you should fall...of course not that you will, you will live forever..." Kazuka said. "And besides that, you will have no one to beat up every now and then."

'WHY THAT LITTLE...! THE APPLE DOESNT FALL FAR FROM THE GODDAMN TREE DOES IT?!'

Sesshomaru laughed and ruffled his daughter's blunt short hair.

"That sounds like an well educated reason, daughter."

The group stared in complete awe at what had just happened.

"D-d-d-id S-Sesshomaru just...laugh?!" Shippo stuttered, sitting on his future counterpart's shoulder who was equally shocked.

"Thats what it looked like..." Miroku said, a shiver running through his spine.

"I remember jaken told me once that if Sesshomaru is laughing, that means someone is going to die!" *Shippo said. "Right Jaken?"

"Y-y-ess, you're right! I would stay out of his way if I were you!" Jaken stuttered

"Umm...so is that a yes?" Kagome mumbled.

when Sesshomaru finished, he carefully whipped out tenseiga and said, "Set his body down on the ground."

They did as they were told and placed the dead body of Inuyasha on the ground in front of Sesshomaru.

His face, which was normally tan from the sun, was pale as the underside of a fish's belly. Despite this, *Inuyasha's empty body looked as if he was sleeping.

"Alright, the moment of truth..." *Kagome said.

Tenseiga pulsed twice. Sesshomaru focused on the minions from the underworld who were examining his body, but they seemed confused.

'They must be confused at how they didnt notice that he was dead for so long and they did not notice...'

Sesshomaru raised Tenseiga and slew the minions as they let out painful cries that only he heard.

Six pulses could be audibly heard from Inuyashas body. "Whats happening? why isnt it working?" Kagome asked.

"Inuyasha's body is calling out for his soul..." Sesshomaru concluded.

*Kagome felt a strong and powerful pull from within herself. She grunted and fell to the ground and felt a strong release. A bright ball of energy escaped from her body and went into Inuyasha's body. It took a moment before they could see evidence that Inuyasha had truly been revived.

*Kagome bent over him and whispered in his ear, "Inuyasha...you can wake up now, dear."

they watched as *Inuyasha's finger twitched a little, then his hand, and finally his arm reached over and grabbed Kagome's hand. He opened his eyes, and when he saw his wife standing over him, he smiled.

"*Kagome...You're a sight for sore eyes..."

"Oh Inuyasha!" *Kagome choked before throwing herself over her husband.

"PAPA!" Itaru and Meimei shouted as they ran to greet their revived father.

The group looked on with contentment at the scene in front of them. Inuyasha huffed and turned away, but inwardly smiled.

"Sesshomaru..." *Inuyasha began.

"What is it?" Sesshomaru replied.

"...I appreciate what you did today..." Inuyasha croaked.

Inuyasha could not believe what his ears had just heard. He turned around and stared with a incredulous look on his face. The rest of the group emulated his reaction.

Sesshomaru grunted an acknowledgement. "Lets go, you two." then, they suddenly heard something from the sky.

"MY LORD! YOU ARE ALRIGHT!" said a familiar voice.

"That voice!" Sango said.

"That can't be who I think it is!" Kagome echoed. they all looked to see a mature young woman with long wispy hair styled in a half up ponytail and a peony hair comb stuck neatly and perfectly on the side. she was wearing a purple kimono with a fan design on the sleeves and the bottom hem. underneath, she wore two layers of a red and white kosode all tied together with a green bow. her face was youthful and glowing with her lips painted red and her eyes sparkling with joy. flying on the two headed dragon Ah-Un. Alongside her was Tomono, Sesshomaru's mother in her dog demon form.

"It is! Its Rin!" Sango and Kagome gasped.

"Shes so..." Miroku started.

"-grown up!" Inuyasha continued.

When they landed, Rin ran right up to Sesshomaru and Kazuka. "Oh Im so happy you are alright! I was just so worried about you both!"

"Rin, I was sure that I told you to stay where I told you. What if I did not succeed and you got caught in the crossfire? It was hard enough to take care of Kazuka...and Jaken..." Sesshomaru said slightly annoyed.

Jaken blanched at the offhanded comment. 'MY LORD DOES NOT BELIEVE IN MY ABILITY TO TAKE CARE OF MYSELF!'

"Well, I already knew that you were going to win! Thats why I came!" Rin said.

"Rin, thats not the point..." Sesshomaru said with an exasperated sigh.

"And besides, even if you were to somehow be defeated in this battle, I would not hesitate to die at your side, my lord..."

" You know that I forbid such talk from you..." Sesshomaru scolded.

Rin sighed and bowed, "forgive me, my lord. I disobeyed you. I shall never do it again."

"Thats what you said the last time..." Sesshomaru sighed.

Kazuka stood next to her parents and tugged on the hem of her mother's kimono.

"Mother?" Kazuka mumbled.

Rin looked at her child, screamed and knocked Jaken out of the way.

"Kazuka! WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO YOU?! YOUR HAIR!" Rin ran her fingers through her daughter's bluntly cut chin length hair and looked over torn silk kimono.

"I was fighting mother..." Kazuka said exasperated at her mother's worry.

"Kazuka, I will not have you tearing up your good clothes! Your father paid good money for this kimono! You are a young lady and you'd better start acting like it!" Rin scolded.

Kazuka inched over to her father and clutched to his pant leg and made a pout.

Sesshomaru ran his long clawed fingers through her hair and said, "Do no be so harsh on her. It suits her lifestyle. Paying too much attention to aesthetic details is not suitable for a warrior."

"But she is a princess first!" Rin exclaimed.

Inuyasha rubbed his eyes twice and thought. 'Is this real life...? Im sure im dreaming...'

"Rin, this is not the place to debate this." Sesshomaru continued.

"You are just saying that to avoid the discussion!" Rin huffed. Sesshomaru rolled his eyes in response.

Tomono, who had remained silent up until that point, began to chuckle. 'oh doesnt this sound familiar...?'

"We need to go." Sesshomaru asserted.

Rin turned to the group and bowed, "Thank you all for taking care of my little girl. I know she can be a handful at times."

they watched Rin, Jaken and Kazuka climb on top of Ah-Un and Sesshomaru join his mother in full demon form. Kazuka gave Ah-Un a prod and the royal family took to the skies.

"Well, there goes the strangest family that I've ever seen..." *Shippo said.

"You said it!" Shippo agreed.

~*0*~

It took a full two days for the gang to get back to the village. When they returned, the huts were on their way to being fully restored. The villagers along with Ami, Yui, Hiro and *Kohaku, jubilantly greeted them.*Inuyasha and *Kagome invited all of the villagers who did not have a place to stay to seek shelter at their house. That night, there was a great feast to celebrate their return. Sake was passed around freely and everyone was in good spirits. There was no shortage of laughter as people danced and sang songs everyone knew by heart.

"Wow! what a crowd! Are these really all the villagers?" Sango asked.

"No, most of the them went to other neighboring villagers until the danger passed. They'll come back eventually." *Sango replied to her counterpart.

Both Inuyashas and both Mirokus were busy retelling the story of how they defeated the Ryukotsusei, Ryukoushi, Naraku and the Band of Seven.

"Two dragon demons, the Band of Seven, and Naraku?! Thats incredible!" said one of the villagers.

"I dont believe it! You mean to tell us that you all killed them in one day?" said another.

Iits true! we know its hard to believe, but its the truth. We were pretty exhaused when we were through. But we're glad that its over now."

"So am I! When I heard about the band of seven being revived a second time, why, I nearly jumped out of my skin!" said an elderly man, visibly shaking with nervousness. They all had a good laugh at the old man's expense. The four men excused themselves and went to the kitchen. Gossip and small talk filled the room and was hushed a little bit when the men entered.

*Kagome was stirring a big pot of stew with her counterpart from the past helping her. *She looked up and said with an annoyed tone in her voice, "Dinner is almost ready, you all. Be patient."

*Inuyasha stepped forward and chuckled, "We weren't worried about the food, we were checking to see how you all were doing."

"Really? Honestly, I wanted to check on the food." Inuyasha whispered to Miroku.

"We're fine, alright? Now go outside, you'll be in the way." *Kagome said curtly.

"Alright, alright." *Inuyasha complied with a smile and turned around to leave.

*Kagome let out an exasperated sigh. But as soon as she did, she began to feel dizzy. She could feel the room spinning around her and lost her balance. She nearly fell in the pot of stew before Kagome and both Sangos caught her.

"Kagome!" they exclaimed.

The men whipped around and both Inuyashas were at her side in an instant.

*Kagome held her head and blinked twice, trying to make sense of what was going on.

"Kagome! are you okay?!" *Sango asked.

"Yeah...Im fine...what just happened?" *Kagome replied.

"you almost became an ingredient in the stew, thats what happened!" Kagome exclaimed.

"Oh..." *Kagome breathed. she tried to get back up, but fell right back down when she felt another dizzy spell fall upon her.

"Kagome, you need to rest! you've been working way too hard!" Sango pleaded.

"No, really, im fine. this will pass..." *Kagome explained.

"No you're not! You're only dizzy because your're tired! Kagome, you need to sleep! Think about the baby!" *Sango begged.

"The baby and I are fine." * Kagome emphasized.

"You and the baby are not fine! I can even see that!" Kagome insisted.

"I said I'm fine!" *Kagome exclaimed, almost shouting. In that moment, *Inuyasha grabbed her hand and forced her to look at him.

"Kagome. Go. To. SLEEP." *Inuyasha commanded.

*Kagome stared into his eyes defiantly, and didnt move.

"NOW." *Inuyasha insisted, his eyes narrowing.

Time stood still as everyone in the room watched to see what would happen between the two. At last, Kagome's eyes brimmed with tears. "Im...so tired...of you all treating me like im still sixteen...!" Kagome whispered, before standing up in a huff, and nearly losing her balance again.

"Hold on! I'll help you!" Kagome said, grabbing her future counterpart's arm and leading her to her room.

*Inuyasha sighed and turned to exit the room. Inuyasha follwed his double outside to join him on the porch to watch children play.

"Okay...how did you do that?!" Inuyasha begged.

"I dont like commanding her like that, like i'm some kind of task master...But she doesnt know when to just stop! Does she have any idea of what she is doing to herself? Its like she wants to repeat what happened the last time!" *Inuyasha shouted, slamming his fist into the floor.

"Wait...what happened?" Inuyasha asked.

"I dont want to talk about it..." *Inuyasha replied

'Huh, so this is what its like to talk to me when im in a bad mood...' Inuyasha thought to himself.

They sat for a moment watching the children play ball. Their laughter filled the air as they passed the ball from one person to the other.

*Inuyasha sighed and said, "Isnt it a beautiful sound?"

"W-w-what? Whats a beautiful sound?" Inuyasha asked.

"Laughter. Even amongst the evil that surrounds us every day, laughter brings back the glimmer of hope that perhaps one day, peace will be restored among us."

'Whaaaaa?! am Italking to Miroku or something!? How the hell did I become so philosophical and all that shit?!'

"Now I know what you're probably thinking...I really sound like Miroku and all his philosophical banter. But marriage and children changes a man. I've come to understand what he's been saying all along. lately,I am discovering the small blessings in life. Blessings that we have been going without all of our lives. I've even gone meditating once or twice. compared to my earlier life, this life is really peaceful..." *Inuyasha explained.

Inuyasha was at loss for words. He was shocked that he was really hearing what he was hearing.

They resorted to simply watching the children play. in the courtyard, various village children with Itaru, Meimei, Ami, Yui, Hiro and Shippo were deciding what to play next.

"What should we play next?" said one of the children.

"Hey! we should play this new game our mama taught us!" Meimei offered.

"Whats that?" said one of her friends.

"Its called dodgeball! The rules are really easy. There are two teams and they stay at opposite ends and they throw balls at each other! Whoever gets hit by a ball is out. The team with the last one standing wins the game!"

"I dont like the sound of that game...It sounds like war to me!" said one of the children.

"Oh would you stop being a wimp, Jomei? I bet its gonna be fun! Lets play!" said another one of

the children.

"But we only have one ball! How are we supposed to play?" said one of the girls.

"No problem! I can help with that!" Shippo announced. he threw a bunch of acorns in the air and shouted "fox magic!" and the acorns turned into little brown balls.

"Wow! thanks Shippo!" Itaru said.

"Aww it was nothin!" Shippo said proudly.

"Now we have to pick teams!" said one of the kids.

"Why not boys versus girls!?" said one of the older boys.

"No way! Thats not fair at all!" said Ami.

"Okay, fine! In that case, we call dibs on Itaru!" said the older boy.

"Thats still not fair! He's stronger than all of us!" said Yui.

"HEY! IM STRONG TOO, YA KNOW!" Shippo complained.

"No its not! Besides, you guys can get Meimei!" Hiro said.

After they argued over who would be on whose team, they started the game. Many of the girls and the younger children were tagged out first. Itaru was whipping out the balls with frightening precision. But there was someone he was trying to avoid hitting. A girl about his age with freckles and two braids on the side of her head.

"He likes that girl." *Inuyasha said.

"Which one?" replied Inuyasha.

"The one with the braids. Shes right in front of him and he wont hit her. Either he mans up and plays the game, or someone will hit her for him-But then he might get mad at that."

And as he predicted, one of the older boys took aim and hit the girl square in the face. She cried in pain and grabbed her nose.

"Sana!" Itaru shouted as he dropped the ball and ran to her side.

"Sana, are you okay?!" Itaru asked.

"My nose...!" Sana hissed in pain.

When he saw her pain, Itaru rose up in rage and turned to the criminal who hit her.

"Why did you have to throw that ball so hard, huh?! You hurt her!"

"Hey man, I was just playing the game! I didnt mean to hit her in the face! You shouldnt be so sensitive!" said the older boy.

"Hah! I told you he had a crush on Sana! She's got him whipped!" said another boy.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Itaru growled before he jumped on top of him and began beating him; the children started to chant "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" and some of the grown ups ran out to see what was going on.

*Inuyasha jumped up and pulled his angered son off of the boy.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! APOLOGIZE RIGHT NOW" Inuyasha hissed.

"TAKE BACK WHAT YOU SAID, KOSUKE! TAKE IT BACK!" Itaru shouted.

"SHUT UP!" Inuyasha growled.

"Whats going on out here!?" said Kosuke's parents, finding their boy on the ground.

"Just a misunderstanding. I apologize, it will never happen again. Right, Inuyasha?" *Inuyasha demanded, calling Itaru by his rightful name.

"Yes sir. I apologize. please forgive me." Itaru mumbled, bowing low to the ground.

"Come Kosuke. Its time for dinner and bed for you." said kosuke's mother.

"Alright kids! Play time is over! Go get your food and go to bed!" *Inuyasha commanded.

There was a chorus of moans and awws from the children. Itaru got a few snide "thanks a lot Itaru..." "way to ruin the game!". He started to follow, but *Inuyasha cought him by his shoulder.

"Im not done with you, come back here."

Itaru turned with his ears plastered to his head.

"So how should I punish you? Spanking in front of everyone, serving everyone their dinner or extra chores for the week and no time with your friends?"

"What?! those are terrible choices! How am I-" Itaru began.

"You're pretty damn lucky im giving you a choice, boy! What you did there was unacceptable! You know what position this family is in!" *Inuyasha spat.

Inuyasha watched silently at the whole ordeal. Even after all they had gone through, this future Inuyasha was still afraid of things going back to the way they were before he met any of his friends.

Itaru sighed and said, "I'll serve everyone their dinner...".

"Good. Now get to it!" *Inuyasha commanded.

Itaru ran into the house and bowed slightly to the present Inuyasha.

*Inuyasha rejoined his double on the porch and they both sat in silence.

"you're still afraid, aren't you?" Inuyasha said.

"I dont think I'll ever get over that fear. I think its even gotten worse after Itaru and Meimei were born. I dont want what happened to me happen to them. its too much to bear. I know why my mother cried. she knew the terrible world i was born in. It may seem like things have changed, but it hasn't. The only reason people accept us here is that I am the protector of this area and Kagome is the priestess. If she was just an ordinary person and I wasn't the protector of this area, Im sure they wouldnt hesitate to kill both of us..." *Inuyasha explained.

Inuyasha nodded his head in agreement.

"But Kagome...she believes in the villagers. She believes that they have changed for the better and that they accept us and tells me to stop being so paranoid. A big part of me wants to believe her. After all, she was the first person besides mother to ever truly accept me for who I was. all of me." *Inuysha continued.

"B-but what about Kikyo? She accepted us!" Inuyasha reminded.

"She accepted what she wanted to accept. She wanted to use the shikon jewel to make us human. If the shikon jewel weren't available, she probably would not have offered." *Inuyasha said.

Inuyasha gasped. did he really think that way about kikyo now?

"Dont get me wrong. I still love her, and miss her deeply. She was our first love. We can never forget that."

"So, I take it that she doesnt make it out of this battle very well, huh?" Inuyasha said sadly.

"No. but, she died in peace. We said our goodbyes. I know she is in a better place, and that she's watching over us." *Inuyasha replied solemnly.

they both looked up at the sky and sat in meditative silence.

"That being said, you have no reason now to ignore what you have in front of you." *Inuyasha said.

"What do you mean?" Inuyasha replied.

"Heh, this is funny. someone asked me, 'if I could go back to the past to tell my past self something, what would I say?' well, this is the only chance Im going to get..." *Inuyasha began.

"Well, what is it?"

"Protect her. protect her with your very life. With every breath you breathe, do it for her safety and her comfort. She holds your spirit, and its not because of the enchanted beads. She is your soul mate. She belongs to you and you belong to her. And dont give her such a hard time, her family is important to her too. As you can see, she wont be able to see them for much longer..."

"Oh..." Inuyasha said, trying to compute what was just said.

"It may take a while for all of this to sink in. But dont rush anything. Take your time with her. She will appreciate it in the end."

"Alright...I'll do it." Inuyasha vowed.

And with that, *Inuyasha stood and yawned loudly. "Its time for me to turn in! see ya."

"Yeah...see ya..." Inuyasha mumbled. he stayed outside for a while to think on everything he saw and heard.

'protect her with my life, huh? that was never a question...but I guess this battle with Naraku is not going to get any easier. So if Naraku is going to step up his game, then so will I...'

After a few moments, Inuyasha went inside to rest.

….

when Kagome and her counterpart got to the room, she lowered *Kagome onto the large futon covered in thick blankets.

"Is there anything you want right now?" Kagome asked.

"No, not right now." *Kagome mumbled.

Kagome nodded and headed out of the room.

"You are welcome to join me if you like...I know there are things you have been wanting to ask me." *Kagome said.

"Oh...okay.." Kagome complied and sat down next to her double.

They sat in silence for a moment until Kagome finally asked, "Why did you give in so easily?"

*Kagome sighed. "Its...a long story..."

"We have time." Kagome insisted, making herself comfortable.

*Kagome smiled, but in her eyes was a hidden pain.

"A year after we got married, Inuyasha and I decided that it would be a good time to start a family of our own.." *Kagome chuckled. " He saw how jealous I was of Sango and Miroku's kids, so we tried to conceive. We tried for months and ended up with nothing. We even took fertility herbs that Kaede and some of the other village women suggested. Apparently, they worked. I got pregnant around March and we were both really excited to finally have a baby..." *Kagome stared off into space, her expression turning sorrowful. "Then, one day, the village came under attack by a bunch of viper demons. Over 40 people were poisoned. *Inuyasha and *Miroku killed all of them before anyone else could get hurt. Kaede and I were very short-handed. We were the only ones who knew how to apply the antidote. The venom was very strong, it took us two days to get it out of everyone's system. It was taking a serious toll on the baby and I knew it; But I still pressed on. I tried to act as if everything was fine. Inuyasha was starting to get really concerned. He told me that I should rest, take some time off for my duties. But I refused. I hated being treated like a porcelain doll, and I still do! But my pride came at an awful price..."

Kagome stared, afraid of what she was about to hear.

"A few days after that whole ordeal...I miscarried..." *Kagome whispered, choking on her own tears.

Kagome gasped and covered her mouth in horror.

"Inuyasha told me that kaede and Sango found me lying in a pool of my own blood. When Inuyasha came back home that day, he was an emotional wreck. He wouldnt look at me in the eyes for days. I begged him over and over for forgiveness. He told me that he would forgive me on one condition, that I would never push myself over the limit like I did that day. I would have to limit myself or he would do it for me. Now I know you're thinking, what about this time? Considering how this time was an emergency, I dont know if he is going to hold me to my promise..."

"Im...im so so sorry..." Kagome whispered.

"Its alright. We dusted ourselves off and made up. Nine months later, Itaru was born." *Kagome said with a smile."The makeup sex was breathtaking. We haven't made love like that in a long time..."

Kagome froze in shock a the brazen comment, suprised that those words came so casually out of her very own mouth.

"I still dont understand why you are so shy about it! dont you dare tell me you never think about him that way!" *Kagome laughed.

"Well, we're still not married you know! He still hasn't even given me the hint that he even likes me!" Kagome blundered.

"Thats not true." *Kagome said.

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"You know what I mean. Everything he does, he does it in concern for you. Do you know why he insists that you ride on his back? He does it not only so that you can be within his reach if danger should arise, but so that you can be close to him. He doesnt come to the future just so that he can annoy you and drag you back to find the jewel shards, its because every moment you are out of his sight, he yearns for you..."

"Oh..."

"...And when you catch him with Kikyo, he feels absolutely rotten about it. If he didnt care for you, he wouldn't give a damn what you felt. Isnt that evidence enough?" *Kagome giggled. "Now im starting to sound like him. But that happens in marriage, you know?

"Yeah..." Kagome muttered.

"Just be patient with him. It will come. And when he knows, you'll know..." *Kagome said encouragingly, putting her hand on top of her double's.

"Alright...Thank you for that..." Kagome breathed.

they both smiled at each other in acknowledgment and then heard footsteps outside the room followed by a slight rapping at the shoji.

"Kagome, can I come in?" *Inuyasha asked.

"Yes, of course, dear." *Kagome complied.

*Inuyasha entered with a bowl of stew and smiled at his wife and her duplicate.

"Everyone is pretty exhausted; Even the kids are out." Inuyasha yawned.

"Of course. These past few days have been pretty stressful!" *Kagome chuckled.

*Inuyasha glared at Kagome in mock anger, "Hey woman, you're on my side of the bed !"

"Oh! im sorry, here!" Kagome started to get up, but *Inuyasha ushered her back down.

"No no, I was just playing, you dont need to move!" *Inuyasha said.

"Oh, but I need to go, like you said, im pretty exhausted! Im going to bed now! Good night you two!" Kagome said, bowing.

"Haha, alright then. Good night, Kagome!" *Kagome called.

Kagome walked down the hallway carrying a candlelight that illuminated the images various villagers sleeping against the walls. A lot of them were old men and women. Some were small families with little children by them. She smiled to herself to know that they were doing a good thing. Her smile grew even wider when she spotted a group of village children sleeping together in a group. Among them, were Itaru, Meimei, Ami, Yui, Hiro and even Shippo. When she reached the front door, she saw future *Shippo leaning against the door frame supposedly standing guard. But he also was put under the spell of sleep and was gently snoozing.

'They're right...everyone is exhausted...' She finally found the room where they were staying. Both Mirokus and Sangos were asleep in different corners of the room. The only one awake was not other than Inuyasha. He looked up at her and they were caught in a deep gaze. The two lovers had no need for words, for their eyes said everything that was on their hearts.

Kagome offered a meek smile and sat next to him.

Inuyasha took off his haori and put it around her shoulders. Kagome sighed as she sunk into the folds of the thick robe that was still warm from Inuyasha's body heat.

"Thank you..." Kagome whispered.

"feh..."

"So...what do you think about this?" Kagome said in a hushed tone.

"About what?" Inuyasha whispered back.

"You know...about...us..." Kagome said.

Inuyasha paused for a moment, thinking of the right words to say.

"Wellll...we've both certainly done a lot of growing up..." he said.

"Well, thats a given..." Kagome replied.

"And also..." Inuyasha began hesitantly. "...I think...that...whatever we are going to do...however we are going to do it...we...we should take it slowly...lets not rush anything..." Inuyasha whispered.

Kagome turned to look at him, and Inuyasha faced her. His eyes smoldered with an unexplainable warmth from emotions unexpressed. Their faces inched closer and closer until their lips met in sweet union. After a few long, precious seconds, they parted. Kagome blushed, despite the fact that she knew in the future, they would do much more than kiss. This only made her blush more. They came forehead to forehead, looking into each other's eyes.

"Slowly..." Kagome giggled.

"Right..." Inuyasha said, smiling.

Kagome sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder and surrendered herself to a peaceful sleep.

~*0*~

The next morning, Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kilala gathered outside by the Goshinboku and readied themselves to back to their rightful time period.

"Alright, I think we can go now!" Kagome said.

"Thank you all so much for helping us. We could not have done it without you all." *Kagome said.

" Dont thank us, thank Itaru and Meimei! They are the ones who led us to you!" Miroku said.

The two hanyou children smiled brightly at the praise.

"Yeah, they're good kids." *Inuyasha said.

"Well, if we're done now, we can go." Inuyasha said impatiently.

"Wait a minute you guys! Wasnt it Kazuka who helped us to get here?" Sango realized.

"Yeah, thats right!" Shippo said.

"Goddamn it! Now we have to ask that bastard and his brat for help again!?" Inuyasha spat.

"Dont worry about it! we'll find a way for you guys to get back!" *Kagome reassured.

"Okay. So what do we do now?" Sango asked.

They saw *Sango, Miroku and *Shippo catch up with them panting.

"Great! We're just in time!" *Miroku said.

"Good! Now that everyone is here..." *Kagome said with a fighteningly happy smile. "We have something to give you guys as a parting gift!"

"Uhh, whats that?" Kagome asked hesitantly, not liking the looks on their counterpart's faces.

*Kagome looked to her husband and Inuyasha nodded stiffly, as if he was preparing himself for something.

"SIT BOYS!" *Kagome said deviously.

Both Inuyashas faceplanted into the ground with a loud thud.

"Sesshomaru! NOW!" *Inuyasha shouted.

And out of nowhere, Sesshomaru landed on top of Inuyasha with a giant tree trunk in his hands. And he proceeded to beat Inuyasha into the ground with said tree trunk.

"WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING!? WHAT IS GOING-" Miroku began before he was punched in the gut by his future counterpart.

"Miroku!" Sango shouted before she was knocked in the back of her head with a small log by *Sango.

Shippo and kilala stood cowering in front of his future counterpart who was cracking his knuckles.

"alright, whats it gonna be, huh? me or you?" *Shippo said.

"W-w-wait minute! Me and kilala can knock ourselves out!Watch!" Shippo stuttered, and then knocked both his head and kilala's together and both fell to the ground unconscious.

"Hold on you guys! what are you guys doing!?" Kagome shouted.

"Im sure you know why, Kagome. You've learned enough physics and seen enough sci-fi movies to know that you can't go into the past or future without forgetting everything you saw there! it would mess everything up!" *Kagome said simply.

"Oh...that makes sense..." Kagome replied. *Shippo jumped in front of Kagome and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, Kagome. this might hurt for a second!"

After that, everything went dark.

…...

When Kagome woke up, they were in a dark and hot room. All she saw through her hazy eyes were Inuyasha struggling against himself and forcing something down his throat.

"DRINK THE GODDAMN SAKE!" *Inuyasha yelled.

"I DONT WANNA! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Inuyasha shouted back.

Next to him, Miroku was serving himself cup after cup of sake. *Sango turned to to him and said, "Dont give him too much! You'll erase all of his memories!"

"*Master of potions, will this really work?" *Kagome asked.

"It will definitely work. i've tried it myself. I forgot everything that I did a week prior to testing this brew!" said the master of potions.

"Thats what we want!" *Kagome said.

Kagome saw her counterpart handed her a cup of sake and said, "Here, drink it."

She obeyed and drank a cup of the mysterious sake. She felt the liquid burn as it flowed down her throat. The next moment, she was unconscious once more.

A/N: Hey guys! Whats up?! This chapter was really long, wasnt it?! I wasn't even planning on the kiss scene, that was pure chemistry right there! Im glad I finally got it up for you, now I can rest in peace until the next chapter! (which will be up soon, promise!)

watched the final act of Inuyasha yet, you probably dont know who the "master of potions" is. I forgot which episode it is, but the episode is hilarious. I wont spoil it for you, but it includes intoxication and our favorite hanyou!

Additionally, If you have any questions regarding ANYTHING AT ALL you are free to ask! just post it as a review/comment and I will answer them in the last chapter!

AND REMEMBER! REVIEW!

Until then, happy reading!

GOTA


	37. Chapter 37: A festival to remember

Inuyasha Regashi final chapter

I am extremely sorry for the long delay you guys! It's the final stretch and I am putting in overtime (both at school and at my job!)

But nevertheless, I haven't forgotten about you guys!

Enjoy the last chapter ^_^

and dont forget to review!

A month had passed and Inuyasha and the gang still had no rememberence of what happened earlier. They found themselves in strange positions at a campground near the village. Inuyasha was in a tree, Kagome was sitting under that tree with Shippo in her arms. Sango was laying on the ground with Miroku on top of her with Kilala nearby. Around them were empty jugs of sake and an extinguished camp fire. When they woke up, they looked around and did not recognize any of their surroundings. A loud slap echoed throughout the mountainside when Sango realized just who was on top of her. They continued to search for Naraku and the last shikon shard. However, they could not locate it, or Naraku. Everything seemed quiet for the time being. So Inuyasha and his friends decided to take a break. It was late in the afternoon when the group arrived back in Kaede's village. Summer was slowly turning into fall with hot days and cool nights. Cicadas sang their last songs of the summer in the trees that were slowly but surely beginning to change color.

"Hm? Ye are back so soon?" said Kaede when they came in the door.

"We have no leads on the shikon jewel or Naraku. So we came back." Inuyasha said.

"Oh? Are ye taking a rest?" Kaede asked.

"You could say that." Kagome said.

"Well alright then. Ill get supper prepared for you. I am sure ye all are quite hungry." Kaede said starting the evening meal.

"Thank you lady Kaede." Miroku thanked.

"So what should we do now? Wait for something to come up?" Sango said.

"I suppose, there is no sense in looking for trouble." Miroku said.

"But Inuyasha was so cooperative when Kagome suggested that we come back to the village to rest. Why do you think that is?" Sango whispered.

"Most likely because it's the new moon tonight. He probably does not want to run into any danger." Miroku whispered back.

"im glad we get to rest some! I wanted to go play with some of my new friends here in the village!" Shippo said.

"And I can go and get my Hiraikotsu looked at; And you are coming with me, monk." Sango said menacingly.

"Oh okay, its not like I was going to do anything while you were gone, though! Miroku said defensively.

"I've heard that before." Sango said, unconvinced.

"OH!" Kagome exclaimed. Everyone sat up alert and looked to Kagome.

"What is it, Kagome?! Do you sense a demon? A shard?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"No! I just remembered that tonight is the last day of the late summer festival! I have to go!" Kagome said picking up her bags.

"Late summer festival? That sounds like fun!" Shippo said.

"Oh it is! There are games and food and things called roller coaster rides that are super fun!" Kagome explained.

"That does sound like a lot of fun!" Sango said. "I wish we were able to travel with you through the well!"

"Yup! Oh, hey Inuyasha: since its going to be your human night tonight, would you like to come with me?" Kagome offered.

"Why should I?" Inuyasha huffed.

"Come on, Inuyasha! This is your chance to actually have fun on your human night! Give it a try, would you?" Kagome pleaded.

"Hmph. Who said I never had fun on the new moon?!" Inuyasha said, getting flustered.

"Please, Inuyasha!? Just this once? I'll never ask you to do it again, promise." Kagome vowed.

"Go on Inuyasha, in our place." Miroku said.

"Yeah! And bring back some ninja snacks while you're there!" Shippo said.

"Oh fine! But its only for the ninja snacks!" Inuyasha grunted standing up.

"Yaaay!' Kagome cheered. "Come on! Lets go!" Kagome said, grabbing his hand. Inuyasha blushed and followed after her.

"Ahh a festival." Miroku sighed. "A perfect time for two lovers to spend time with each other."

"Aye. I remember a festival when I was about Kagome's age where I met a young lad. He was much like Inuyasha, hard on the outside, but tender and soft on the inside. We stayed the whole night at the festival playing games and eating sweet rice. I wished that night would last forever, but he was a merchant's son and had to leave the next day. I never forgot that lad. I still think of him from time to time. Yes, a festival is a perfect time for two young lovers to enjoy each other's company."Kaede said. When she looked up, she noticed that she was alone and talking to herself…

"Methinks that I should stop wasting my breath…" Kaede sighed.

Across time and through the well…

"Seriously, Kagome! Why do I have to go with you to this silly festival of yours?!"

"Because! I wanted to go this year and today is the last day! And now that we know that your human night is tonight, I saw it as an opportunity to keep you occupied and out of danger!" Kagome said.

"Im fine! I can survive on my own! I've made it this far, haven't I?" Inuyasha spat. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his hair and eyes began to darken. Kagome looked outside and saw that the sun was starting to set.

"Sure you can, now come on!" Kagome said pulling his dulling claws.

"Grrrr…." Inuyasha growled.

"And besides, you've already shown me your world I wanted to show you mine." Kagome said.

"I've already seen your world! Its big, smelly, busy and noisy! Nothing im interested in!" Inuyasha spat.

"But you haven't seen half of it! Its so much more than just the city. Come on, Inuyasha, just let loose for once!" Kagome said.

"Let…loose?" Inuyasha muttered confused. By the time they reached the house, Inuyasha was well transformed into his human form.

"Hey! Kagome is back! And she brought—who are you!?" Sota asked.

"IM INUYASHA, SMART ONE!" Inuyasha spat.

"Hey, I didn't know they had hair dye in the feudal era! It looks so good!" Sota said touching Inuyasha's long ebony hair.

"He didn't dye his hair, Sota…" Kagome said.

"Then what did he do to it?" Sota asked.

" Its complicated." Inuyasha said.

"Not really. Every new moon, Inuyasha loses his demonic qualities and turns into a human." Kagome explained.

"Oh that's so cool!" Sota exclaimed. "now you can walk around without that silly hat!"

"Yeah sure…" Inuyasha mumbled.

"Kagome! Inuyasha! You're back! Are you going to the late summer festival?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Yes! Today is the last day and I had to come! Oh and I brought Inuyasha with me." Kagome said.

"So you both are going? That's great! I can take you if you like." Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Oh no, that's fine." Kagome said walking up to her room. "We just need to get redressed." Kagome said.

"What do you mean 'we'? im going just as I am!" Inuyasha retorted.

"Oh come on, Inuyasha! You know, there is a saying nowadays, 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'!" Kagome said.

"Whats a rowman?" Inuyasha asked.

"It just means when you are in a certain place, try to fit in a little." Kagome explained.

"Hmph." Inuyasha said.

When they reached her room, Kagome opened her closet and was torn between a white floral minidress and a pink Kagome was debating what to wear, Inuyasha looked at himself on Kagome's vanity mirror. He touched his long, black hair and thought for a moment. An idea came to his head and walked out of the room. Kagome didn't notice his disappearance and kept looking through her wardrobe. Inuyasha crept downstairs into the kitchen and looked along the countertop and found what he was looking for: a large cutting knife. Inuyasha ran his finger along the blade and it left a small cut where a little bubble of blood oozed. "I guess this will have to do." Inuyasha thought out loud. Inuyasha headed up to the bathroom and slightly closed the door. Inuyasha took a bunch of his thick hair in his hand and lifted the kitchen knife to his hair. it made a small ripping sound and fell to the ground in a big heap.

Back in Kagome's room, she finally picked out the outfit that she decided to wear for that day. she picked the white floral dress , and a pair of red flats. "hey, Inuyasha? How does this—" Kagome turned to see her companion gone. "Inuyasha?" Kagome exited her room and walked down the hallway. She looked and saw that the bathroom light was on and the door slightly open. "Inuyasha are you in here?" Kagome asked. When she opened the door, she saw a huge pile of thick, black hair on the ground and a bobbed Inuyasha at the middle. "oh hey, Kagome. Can you cut the back of my head? I can't reach it too well." Inuyasha asked. Kagome stared in absolute awe of what was before her. She could only make out a squeak.

"hey are you going to help me or not?" Inuyasha asked impatiently.

"I-I-Inu-ya-yashhh-a-a-a…! Y-y-y-our h-h-hair!" Kagome stuttered.

"What about it? You said when at home, do as the rowmen do. Though I still don't know what rowmen have to do with home…" Inuyasha said simply.

"I didn't mean lop off your hair!" Kagome shouted.

"Well, you should have made that clear." Inuyasha said.

Kagome sighed a deep sigh and picked up a pair of scissors. "Hold still…" Kagome huffed. Inuyasha put the knife on the counter and let Kagome cut his hair. She tried to work with it as much as she could, since Inuyasha had so bluntly cut it. She tried to create shaggy layers that would suit his personality and make him not stand out so obviously. When she was done, Inuyasha opened his eyes and grunted. "You did it all wrong! Its supposed to be straight, like this!" Inuyasha tried to grab the scissors from her.

"No! its fine!" Kagome insisted.

"No, its not! It looks like a mess!" Inuyasha shouted.

"That's the style now! No one cuts their hair straight anymore!" Kagome said.

"What!? I look like a beggar!" Inuyasha said.

"Well, that's whats 'in'." said Kagome picking up a comb and combing out the loose hairs that might have fallen back into his hair.

"There! Now you look like a modern teenager!" Kagome said triumphantly.

"I look like a sluggard that just rolled out of bed." Inuyasha said critically.

"Whatever, Inuyasha. You're the one that cut your hair…" Kagome said, leading her companion out of the bathroom.

She went down stairs and looked for her mother in the family room. "Hey mom, do you still have any of dad's old clothes?" Kagome asked.

"Oh? No I don't, but I still have those clothes we bought a month back when your friends came to visit." Mrs. Higurashi said getting up and heading to the closet.

"What friends?" Kagome said.

"Oh you remember! The little ones that looked like Inuyasha with the cute little dog ears? Inuyasha, you remember don't you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"I dunno what you're talking about." Inuyasha said.

"Oh but you have to remember! They were the cutest little things! Especially the little girl!" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Mom, we don't know what you're talking about…" Kagome said honestly.

"Oh…well…I…alright, if you don't remember then you don't remember…" Mrs. Higurashi said. She went into the closet and pulled out a shopping bag.

"I got this outfit for Inuyasha just in case you two wanted to explore the city a little more. I hope it fits, dear." Mrs. Higurashi said handing Inuyasha the shopping bag. Inside was a red zip up hoodie with a picture of a Japanese symbol on the back. Along with that was a white beater and a pair of dark jeans. At the bottom was a pair of sandals.

"What is all this?" Inuyasha asked.

"Its your new clothes! While you go out on the town tonight, I can wash your clothes so they will be nice and clean for you!" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Feh! It doesn't need to be washed. It keeps itself fresh!" Inuyasha said defensively.

"Well, there is no such thing as too clean." Mrs. Higurashi said pulling off his fire rat robe. Kagome and Inuyasha went back upstairs to her room. They pulled out the articles of clothing and Iaid it out on the bed.

"So how do I put this stuff on?" Inuyasha asked.

"Hold on, I'll help you." Kagome replied.

Inuyasha pulled off his kosode and threw it to the floor. Kagome started with the beater first and motioned for Inuyasha to put his arms above his head so that she could slide the shirt over him. The beater fit him perfectly; not too loose, but tight enough for one to see his perfectly toned muscles. Kagome blushed a little.

"You can take care of the pants, right?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah…" Inuyasha said. Kagome handed over the pair of jeans and turned around.

"You better not look!" Inuyasha said.

"Its not like its anything new…" Kagome sighed.

"WAIT WHAT?!" Inuyasha stuttered.

"Just get dressed, Inuyasha." Kagome sighed.

Inuyasha struggled to pull his legs through the stiff denim fabric. He was finally able to get it through and tried to get the pants to close.

"Kagome? How do I do this darned contraption?!" Inuyasha grunted.

"Hold on, im coming…" Kagome sighed. She knelt down in front of him to get a closer look at the situation.

Then Kagome realized just what she was doing, she began to sweat.

'Oh my god…this will not be good if mom comes in here and sees us like this!'

"Are you done yet?! This is really awkward!" Inuyasha complained.

Kagome was finally able to zip and button on Inuyasha's jeans. She gave a big sigh and got back up. She looked at Inuyasha and he looked away with the brightest blush that she had ever seen on him.

'So that's why his jeans were so hard to fasten….'

"Okay, now for that weird looking kimono…" Inuyasha said.

"You mean the jacket…" Kagome sighed.

"Whatever…" Inuyasha huffed.

Kagome helped Inuyasha with the jacket and zipped it up for him. Inuyasha managed to get his sandals on himself and they both turned toward the long mirror on the wall.

"Wow! You look amazing, Inuyasha! No one would ever know that you were a half demon from the feudal era!" Kagome cheered.

"I still think I look like a beggar…" Inuyasha muttered while running his fingers through his hair.

Kagome rolled her eyes and pulled him out the door and downstairs.

"Are you two ready to go?" mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Yep!" Kagome replied.

"Are you two sure you don't want me to drive you?" mrs. Higurashi offered.

"No, we'll be fine." Kagome said.

"Alright, you two. Have fun!" mrs. Higurashi said.

"Wait! Im coming too!" Sota said, running down the stairs as he struggled to put his jacket on.

"No way, Sota! Mom! Tell Sota he cant go!" Kagome said defensively.

"Im sorry, Sota. But Kagome hasn't had a chance to go to the late summer festival and it's the last day. Besides, you've been already this week. Let them have their fun!" mrs. Higurashi said.

"Oh alright…" Sota said, hanging his head.

"Yes!" Kagome cheered. She dragged Inuyasha out the door before anyone could say anything else. They were halfway down the stairs when Inuyasha said, " I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal out of this, its just a festival…" Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, have you ever been to a festival?" Kagome said.

"W-w-welll, of course I have!" Inuyasha stuttered.

"You haven't, have you…." Kagome said skeptically.

"Well…what does it matter if I haven't?! its not detrimental to my survival!" Inuyasha spat.

Kagome stopped for a moment and looked him straight in the eye.

"And that's your problem…I understand that you are in fear for your life, and constantly on guard wherever you go… But that's no way to live! You're surviving sure, but you aren't thriving! Do you get what im saying?" Kagome said.

"Yeah, I get what you're saying…" Inuyasha muttered.

"Inuyasha, can you do this just one time for me? Just…let loose and have fun. Just for one night. Just for one night, enjoy being young and embrace the moment!" Kagome said.

"Oh alright!" Inuyasha huffed.

"Trust me, this wont hurt a bit!"Kagome said, grabbing his hand again and leading him into the brightly lit metropolis of Tokyo.

Kagome looked out from the corner of her eye and saw Inuyasha staring in awe at everything. She saw the expression of sheer wonder, like that of a child at a toy store. The loud sounds of the street and the bright lights from buildings that touched the sky distracted Inuyasha when Kagome tried to call his name.

"Inuyasha!"

"What!?"

"It looks like you're already enjoying yourself!" Kagome giggled.

"Are you sure we're still in Japan!? 'Cause it doesn't look like it to me!" Inuyasha said.

"We're 500 years in the future, Inuyasha. Of course it wont look like the Japan you know!" Kagome said.

It was very small and silent, but Kagome hear a small "woow" escape froI inuyasha's lips.

They finally reached the fairgrounds and paid their way inside. Despite being human, Inuyasha's nose was flooded with a multitude of different scents and smells.

"What is that smell!?" Inuyasha asked.

"You're probably smelling multiple things. What does it smell like?" Kagome asked.

"It smells…salty…and…chicken!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

Kagome turned to see a *yakitori stall right next to them selling hot chicken skewers.

"You must mean the yakitori, you want some?" Kagome asked.

"Yeah! It smells amazing! I don't even need my youkai nose to tell that's good!" Inuyasha said.

They walked up to the stall and asked for two yakitori skewers. Inuyasha took a big bite out of it and gulped loudly. "this is great! I want another!"

"Don't fill your stomach on one thing, Inuyasha! There are plenty of other foods to explore! And besides that, you don't want to be too full, we have to go on the rides yet!" Kagome said.

"Oh fine! But we're coming back!" Inuyasha demanded.

The two stopped at nearly every concession stand in their path. Inuyasha got his first experience with cotton candy. He was shocked and amazed at how the sweet fibrous candy melted in his mouth. Unfortunately, his tastes could not handle the intense sweetness of it, so he left most of it to Kagome. They stopped at a *yakisoba shop and slurped the thick and oily fried noodles. Inuyasha laughed when a noodle whipped Kagome on the nose. They stopped at an *okonomiyaki stand where a girl with long hair tied in a bow served them with a giant spatula.

"So, are you two going out?" said the girl.

"you can say that!" Kagome said.

"how fun! I wish I could enjoy the festival with my fiancé. But he has other things to do. And of course, I have work. " sighed the girl.

"you two will get your chance, I know you will!" Kagome said cheerfully.

"I sure hope so! But he's such a two timer sometimes! He likes to hang out with this other chick that likes to claim that she is his fiancé too!" said the girl.

"boy, doesn't that sound familiar?" Kagome said rolling her eyes landing on Inuyasha.

"seriously, Kagome? Can we not talk about this? You said we're here to have fun." Inuyasha grunted.

"I didn't say a thing, now did I?" Kagome huffed.

"hahaha! Im glad im not alone with the relationship issues!" said the girl.

"It'll work out, I know it will! you just gotta keep positive!" Kagome reassured.

"you're right. All I can do is keep working hard and hope that he will come running!" said the girl determinedly.

"That's the spirit!" Kagome cheered.

"Kagome! Look over there! I want some of that stuff!" Inuyasha said, tugging her arm.

"Well, I gotta go!" Kagome said.

"Good luck! And have fun!" called the girl.

Soon enough, they were at another concession stand with Inuyasha stuffing his face with food. This time, he was eating three sticks of *dango.

"Inuyasha, you really need to slow down! We still have to ride the rides! You'll get sick!" Kagome warned.

"Kagome, you know me! I never get sick! Im healthy as a horse!" Inuyasha declared with a stuffed mouth. "Besides, this food is amazing!"

"It doesn't matter how healthy you are! If you push yourself too much, you will get sick!"

"You don't know what you're talkin about!" he continued.

Kagome sighed in annoyance. 'I don't know what I'm talkin about huh? Well, lets see who doesn't know when someone ends up puking up his guts, shall we?' Kagome thought deviously.

"Alright alright! Enough eating! Lets go on the rides!" Kagome said, pulling his arm. She led him to a rather lengthy rollercoaster ride where there was a moderately long line.

"c'mon! I love this ride!" Kagome exclaimed.

"What the hell is that!?" Inuyasha spat. In just that moment, the rollercoaster roared down the last big hill and came to a complete halt right by the gate where exhausted and winded passengers disembarked.

"There is no way Im getting on that thing!" Inuyasha said backing away.

"No! its okay! Its really fun! Please Inuyasha?" Kagome pleaded.

"No. Way." Inuyasha reiterated.

"Hmph! Fine! I'll go by myself! Who would've thought you would be the cowardly type!" Kagome said, secretly goading him. Kagome started to walk towards the ride by herself when Inuyasha changed his mind.

"Theres no way you're going on that iron snake demon by yourself!" Inuyasha said grabbing her arm.

"Its not an iron snake demon, it's a roller coaster ride. And im going whether you like it or not." Kagome said finally.

"FINE! I'LL GO WITH YOU!" Inuyasha spat, exasperated.

"Yaaay!" Kagome squealed. They ran up to the line and watched and waited for the next load of passengers to get off. They were the first ones in line, so they were at the very front of the roller coaster.

"Oh my goodness! We're at the front!" Kagome said anxiously. Kagome turned to her partner and fastened his safety belt.

"what do I need this for?" he asked.

"so you don't fall out, silly!" Kagome giggled.

"THANK YOU FOR RIDING THE IRON SNAKE DEMON! PLEASE FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY, KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FEET INSIDE OF THE RIDE AT ALL TIMES! MAKE SURE THAT YOUR SAFETY BELTS ARE SECURELY FASTENED! ENJOY THE RIDE!" said an automated voice.

"See! I told you it was an iron snake demon!" Inuyasha said triumphantly.

Kagome rolled her eyes. They felt the air brakes on the roller coaster release and the tug of the tracks pull them forward. They were beginning to climb a tall hill and was almost at the top. Kagome could feel her heart beating right out of her chest in suspense.

"OKAY! HERE WE GOOOOOO!"

The rollercoaster nose dived down from 100 ft in the air. It seemed as if they would fall off, but they were held securely by the safety belts. Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs and to her surprise, so did Inuyasha. More out of actual fear than amusement.

"OOOOHHHH MMMYYYYY GOOOOOOOODDDDDSSSSSSSS! WE'RE GONNAA DIIIEEEEEEE!"

The roller coaster did an intensely sharp curve that whipped the car almost vertically. This turn turned into a loop-dee-loop. The wind whipped around them as Kagome cried in delight while Inuyasha cried in terror. Inuyasha grabbed onto Kagome's arm for dear life.

"OOHHHH DEEEAAARRRR KAAAMIIIIIIII! HEEEELLLLPPPPP MEEEEEEEEE!"

Inuyasha screamed the whole way with the rollercoaster taking plenty of dramatic twists and turns at extremely fast speeds. Finally the ride was over and the car came to a stop.

When Kagome looked over to her companion, she saw that he was white as a ghost. His hand still holding onto her arm for dear life. She could see his breath was ragged and undoubtedly his heartbeat was racing as fast as the roller coaster.

"Inuyasha…we can get off now…" Kagome said meekly. Maybe this wasn't the best idea…I probably should have started him off with a smaller one…' Kagome thought.

"Are you okay?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha slowly turned his head and stared right into her eyes with a frightening stare.

"I-I-inu-yasha…. Im s-sorry! I-I-just thought it would be fun! I didn't—"

"Another one." He hissed.

"W-wh-what?"

"I WANT TO RIDE ANOTHER ONE!" He shouted with a devilish smile on his face.

'Oh Kami, I have made a terrible mistake…'

After getting off of that ride, Inuyasha dragged Kagome to every roller coaster ride that he set his eyes on. They went on a rides that dropped them from a perilously far height. Another swung them in circles. After all of that, they decided on a ride with spinning tea cups.

'This one doesn't look too bad…' Kagome thought with optimism. They sat down and they went around and around. They both laughed with sheer delight. Kagome had never seen Inuyasha so happy. Suddenly Kagome saw Inuyasha's expression of glee turn into the infamous expression of nausea.

'Oh no…..'

"STOP THE RIDE!" Kagome cried out. She stood up to wave to the machine operator, but stumbled back down. The machine operator looked up to see what was happening. He immediately stopped the ride. When he did, Inuyasha jumped right out of the ride with Kagome right behind him.

When he found an inconspicuous place, he vomited just about all of the contents in his stomach.

"See?! What did I tell you about eating too much? That's what you get for not listening!" Kagome scolded. 'though I am really surprised that he lasted this long. Heck, we rode 3 rollercoasters.'

"Would…you…shut..upppp…..*bllleeeccchhhh*"

When Inuyasha was done, she handed him her handkerchief that was in her purse.

"Thanks…" he said

"No problem…" Kagome replied. "what do you say we settle for something less dramatic?"

"That sounds fine to me." Inuyasha said.

They walked around trying to find something interesting to do. They went through a hall of mirrors where they both made fun of their distorted figures. Kagome spotted a stuffed panda at a target game stand. Kagome begged him for it an Inuyasha gave in.

"Step right up folks! You there! You look you got a good pitching arm! Why don't you win a nice prize for ya girlfriend!" said the game host.

"This'll be a piece of cake." Inuyasha said.

"All ya gotta do is throw a ball and hit one of these moving targets. If you knock down 5 you win a prize!" said the game host.

"Sure thing." Inuyasha said picking up a ball while targets started moving along the side of the booth. Inuyasha pulled up his sleeve and threw the little rubber ball. He hit the target and also put a hole in the wall.

"WHOAAAHHH! That was amazing! Are you a major league player or something?"

"Inuyasha! That was a little bit too hard don't you think?" Kagome said *sweatdrop*

"HAH! Hardly! You wanna see hard?! This is hard!" Inuyasha said. He demonstrated, throwing the ball so hard, it made a whistling sound. It took out a whole target, put a hole in the wall behind it and broke something behind the stand. He threw four more pitches just like that. Making five big holes in the wall.

"OKAY OKAY OKAY! YOU WIN! TAKE WHATEVER YOU WANT!" cried the game operator.

"You said you wanted this one right?" Inuyasha said, reaching up and grabbing the big stuffed panda.

"Yeah…that's the one…" Kagome said weakly.

When they left, the game operator quickly wrote something on a big posterboard and hung it up in front of the booth. I read: "SORRY, CLOSED FOR REPAIRS"

"Why don't we play a game that doesn't involve throwing things, huh?" Kagome suggested.

"Oh hey, what about that one?" Inuyasha said.

Inuyasha pointed to a man in a top hat next to a long pole with a bell at the top. There was a line of seemingly strong and brawny men swinging and hitting a hammer to try and make the bell ring.

"step right up lads! This is the perfect chance to impress the ladies in your lives! Come one come all! Any strong, buff men around?!" shouted the game operator.

"I want to do that one!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"ummm…." Kagome began.

"C'mon!" Inuyasha said pulling Kagome with him.

Inuyasha was the third person in line. The men in front of him had astonishingly large biceps and thighs to match.

'Oh wow, these guys look like body builders! I bet steroids are a regular part of their diet…' Kagome thought dismally.

The first man stretched and flexed his overly inflated muscles. The women nearby sighed in awe of his strength.

"Oh my goodness! Don't you know who they are?!" said one of the girls

"yeah! Those are the Kibishi brothers! Tsuyoi and Kinkotsu! The national weight lifting champions!" said another.

"National weight lifting champions?!" Kagome thought out loud.

"Hah, champions my ass." Inuyasha mumbled.

Soon a crowd of girls were cheering and screaming their names. The brothers flashed white and cocky grins at their adoring fans.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Well mostly ladies…WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO WITNESS IS THE MIGHTY AND INFAMOUS KIBISHI BROTHERS AT WORK! WATCH AND BE AMAZED!"

"Hmph." Inuyasha grunted.

"Inuyasha…don't tell me you're jealous of these freaks!" Kagome asked, flashing an incredulous look to her companion.

"Hah! Hardly!"

The first Kibishi brother spat into his hands and rubbed them swiftly together. He grabbed hold of the large mallet and raised it above his head.

"C'mon Tsuyoi! You got this!" said a rather saucy looking woman with makeup artfully painted on her face that seemed to be his girlfriend.

"This one's for you baby!" grunted Tsuyoi. He brought the mallet down and hit the lever with a mighty thud. The puck reached a little bit more than half way up the strength tester scale.

The crowd ooohed and ahhed as Tsuyoi handed the mallet to his brother.

"Good job bro!" said Kinkotsu.

"What the hell are you talking about?! That was terrible! I need some more protein!" said Tsuyoi in disgust.

"Well honey, theres five T-bone steaks with your name on it back home!" said his girlfriend. "And this bouquet of flowers has yours" Tsuyoi said smoothly.

"Oooh!"

"Yeeeaaahhh Kinkotsu! Hit that motherfucker!" said one of his friends.

"HAHA! That's what she said!" said another.

'Ugh! These people are disgusting!' Kagome thought. "Inuyasha, do you really want to do this? There's a lot of people here and…"

"Im gonna do it. I know I can. If I could take on that fat bastard tokajin while human, I can do this!" Inuyasha said pridefully.

"What are you talking about?! You almost DIED getting thrown off the side of a cliff, Inuyasha!" Kagome retorted.

"Well there are no cliffs nearby are there?" Inuyasha quipped.

Kagome decided that silence was her best option.

When the second Kibishi brother, Kinkotsu hit the mallet on the lever, the puck to the strength tester rose about as high as his brother's. Kinkotsu's friends cheered and slapped him on the shoulders.

"Good job, Kinkotsu!"

"Alright! Whose next?! Though I don't blame any of you for not trying, you are all in the presence of legendary greatness right now!"

"Im next." Inuyasha declared.

Everyone turned and stared at them with dubious eyes.

"Are you sure about that, sonny? You look pretty…slim, don't you think?" said the game host.

"Look at this scrawny little beanpole! He's about as thin as my little finger!" said Tsuyoi.

"Hey kid! Here's a word of advice: go home and lift a couple of weights!" said another one of his friends.

Inuyasha's expression remained cold and unresponsive.

'Inuyasha….' Kagome thought

Inuyasha walked calmly up to the platform where the strength tester stood. All the while, the kibishi brother's posse jeered and taunted him. A few even spit at him.

Kagome could only imagine that is reminded Inuyasha of his childhood. 'no…please stop…don't send him back there…! I thought bringing him here would cheer him up, not open old wounds…!' then, overcome with emotion, Kagome called out: "GO INUYASHA!" the Kibishi brother's posse stared.

"YOU CAN DO IT! DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! YOU'RE STRONGER THAN ALL OF THESE STEROID STUFFED BAFFOONS PUT TOGETHER AND YOU KNOW IT! KNOCK THEIR SOCKS OFF!"

Inuyasha turned to Kagome and stared right into her hopeful eyes. With renewed confidence, he gave her a thumbs up.

He was almost at the platform until he was stopped in his tracks by one of the Kibishi brothers.

"Hey there, kid! I thought you had to be this tall to ride this ride! You barely reach my waist!" said Kinkotsu motioning to show that he had to reach his chest height.

"Y'know, there's a saying back where im from…" Inuyasha said calmly.

"Yeah? Well, lets hear it!" said Kinkotsu.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall…fat ass…" Inuyasha sneered as he walked past his impediment.

"Oooohhh! The shrimp boy thinks he's clever! Well, we'll just see who's the failure after this!"

When he was finally on the platform, he stood in front of the game host with the mallet beside him.

"Young man, I don't mean to sound skeptical…but you do look on the slim side…why don't you come back when you've gained a few pounds! Save your pride for another day!" suggested the game operator.

Inuyasha gave him a cold stare. The game operator backed off and allowed him access to the mallet. Inuyasha cracked his knuckles and his neck, and breathed deeply.

"OOOOOOHHHH he's cracking his knuckles! Soooo scarryyy!" jeered one of the bystanders.

"I bet 5000 yen he doesn't even get half way!" said another.

Inuyasha gripped the mallet and inhaled twice.

'you can do it Inuyasha…I believe in you…' Kagome thought hopefully.

Inuyasha grunted loudly and slowly raised the mallet above his head. The whole crowd around them went dead silent. Inuyasha slammed the mallet down with a loud yell and the puck flew up the scale. It reached the top with a loud and resonant 'DING!' and mixed with the chorus of awe struck gasps. They waited for the puck to come back down, but it didn't.

"T-T-THAT…KID!"

"HE HIT IT SO HARD, THE PUCK IS STUCK IN THE BELL!"

"WOOOOOHOOOOOO! YEAH Inuyasha! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!" Kagome cheered, brushing past the observers and running into his arms. Inuyasha flashed a bright and triumphant smile.

"Grrrr! That little twit!" said Tsuyoi's girlfriend, clenching her fists. "How could you let some little post pubescent boy out-do you like that!? We're through!" she hollered, shoving the bouquet of flowers into his arms and stomped away.

"WAIT! ERIKA!" cried Tsuyoi.

Kagome and Inuyasha was beginning to walk away, arm in arm until they were blocked by a wall of muscles.

"Hold on there! The party is just getting started!" said one of the men.

"Get out of our way. I don't want to have to hurt you." Inuyasha threatened.

"Leave us alone! We won fair and square!"

"Hey guys! Chill out would ya? This guy is a real champ!" said Kinkotsu. He walked up to the two and crouched down to Inuyasha's level.

"You know, for a light weight, you're pretty good! With a little training, you could be the national—No! World-wide weight lifting champion! So whadaya say, kid?"

"Im not interested." Inuyasha said simply.

"what?"

"I said im not interested. Now could you get out of our way?" Inuyasha commanded.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! I just gave you a perfectly good opportunity! Do you have any idea of how much money you could make?! You would be on the cover of every magazine! Women would literally throw themselves at your feet! Hell, you could dump this skinny little bitch and get yourself a real dime piece!"

"Is all that fat clouding your brain? Didnt you hear what I just said? Im. Not. INTERESTED."

"Inuyasha…calm down…" Kagome warned.

"Why you little snotty-assed son of a bitch!" roared Kinkotsu raising his fist to punch. Just in time, Inuyasha grabbed his giant fist.

"Uh sorry to correct you, but my father is the dog, not my mother…"

"WHAT!?" said Kinkotsu in confusion. In that moment, Inuyasha flipped him over onto his back with a loud thud.

"GET HIM!" the Kibishi posse shouted.

"Lets get out of here, Kagome!" Inuyasha said, grabbing her by her hand.

The two weaved in and out of the crowd of carnival goers while the group of body builders followed close behind, knocking over everyone in their path.

"Inuyasha! Why did you provoke them like that!"

"Sorry! Cant talk right now!" Inuyasha huffed. Inuyasha looked for a place to hide and found a spot right behind the funhouse.

They watched the body builders run right past them from the corner. They both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wow...that was scarier than any roller coaster…Way to ruin the fun Inuyasha! Always turning everything into a fight" Kagome breathed.

"Hey! Don't blame me! We lost them didn't we?!" Inuyasha said.

"Yeah! But that's not the point! We were—" suddenly, Kagome felt a cold drop on her nose. And then another on her forehead, followed by three others. They looked up to the sky and saw thick looming clouds moving in. soon enough, there was a downpour.

"OOOHHHHH! GREAT! JUST GREAT! WHY DON'T WE ADD THUNDER AND LIGHTNING TO THIS WHOLE CRAP SUNDAE!?" And as if on cue, a flash followed by a roll of thunder echoed.

"You know, Kagome, you shouldn't provoke the gods like that…"

"OH WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UUUPPP!" Kagome started sobbing into her hands.

"Hey hey hey! Don't cry! Why don't we just go to a tea house or something?" Inuyasha suggested.

"Tea..house..?" Kagome mumbled looking up.

"Oh PLEASE don't tell me they don't have them anymore?!" Inuyasha shouted with disappointment.

"No, no…they have them…we just call them cafés now…" Kagome stuttered.

"*PHEW* thanks for telling me! No tea houses? Now that's worth crying over!" Inuyasha sighed.

The two slipped out from the dark alley and out into the main path of the carnival where people were running for cover. Kagome used her small handbag to cover her head. Then Inuyasha took off his hoodie and shoved it her way, leaving him in only his beater.

"here! Keep yourself dry!" Inuyasha said.

Kagome quickly slipped the oversized hoodie that almost completely covered her dress. The rain started to pour harder and another flash of lightning followed by the deep boom of thunder interrupted the sky. They found themselves in the middle of the city where the lights and sounds drowned out most of the evidence of the storm. Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's hand, warning him to not get separated or they would get lost. Kagome found a small café with a warm and inviting atmosphere. They rushed into the door and tried to dry themselves off. Kagome turned to her companion and groaned.

"Oh man, you're soaking wet! Look at you!"

"Im fine, ok? I spend most of my time in worse conditions, remember?" Inuyasha mumbled, trying to wring out his dripping beater. It was so soaked that one could clearly see his perfectly sculpted chest and abs. His bangs were plastered to his forehead, the water dripping from it landed directly into his grey-violet eyes. Kagome tried not to look directly at him, so as not to catch her blushing.

'Oh my goodness…he looks like something out of a magazine!

Kagome wasn't the only one to notice that; When they turned around, nearly every female and even some males looking their way.

'Oh….'

Before they could make another move, they were greeted by an energetic and busty blonde-haired girl in a waitress uniform that was clearly too small for her.

"Hi there! My name is Miyuki, and I will be your waitress this evening!" she said brightly.

Miyuki ushered Inuyasha and Kagome to a corner nook under an elaborate Japanese painting.

"It must be bad out there! You two are soaked to the bone! Here are your menus!" Miyuki said bending over and indiscreetly giving Inuyasha a view of her chest. Kagome caught this and started to feel her ears get hot.

When she finally left, she watched her with a very intimidating expression.

"Kagome…?" Inuyasha said.

"Yeah?" Kagome muttered.

"Whats wrong? You look upset?" Inuyasha said.

"Its nothing…" she mumbled.

"It is something! You were fine just a moment ago!"

"Im fine, ok?! Chill out!" Kagome exclaimed.

"You are not fine!"

"Can we just order something please!?" Kagome demanded.

"FINE!" Inuyasha grabbed one of the menus and scanned the somewhat unfamiliar menu items. He squinted and grunted, "What is this stuff? Han-ba-ga?! HELL, I cant even read half of it!"

Inuyasha impatiently shoved the menu towards Kagome, who was deep in her thoughts.

'This was supposed to be fun…I hoped, that at least for one night he could be human without fearing for his life…I wanted him to enjoy himself like normal people do…I wanted this to be fun…for him!"

"okay okay, I'll order…" Kagome sighed, brushing her hair from her face. She looked over the menu and looked for something that would be familiar for him.

'I don't know why we're ordering more food…he just chucked up his food from earlier….I should probably just get something easy, like tea…"

"Hey, how about tea?"

"Do they have *gyokuro?" Inuyasha said, a tone of nostalgic hopefulness in his voice.

"Gyokuro?"

"Never mind…what ever they got…" Inuyasha sighed, running his hands through his still wet hair.

"Well, I could ask if you want it that bad..?" Kagome offered.

"w\Whatever you wanna do…" Inuyasha said.

"What is with this guy? All silent and passive?'

Kagome waived the waitress Miyuki to them, she smiled brightly at Inuyasha but more or less ignored Kagome.

"Are you ready to order? What would you like? The north country noodles are on special right now!" she beamed.

"We were wondering if you would happen to have Gyokuro tea here?" Kagome asked.

Miyuki gave her a dismissive side glance and said, "Um sorry, we don't have that here. You will just have to have the regular tea."

"Oh…damn…I guess that's fine then…"Inuyasha sighed.

"B-b-but I could always check! I'll be right back!" Miyuki stuttered.

"Hey! You didn't get what she wanted!" Inuyasha called to her.

Miyuki stopped and backtracked. She took out her notepad and made an irritated face.

"What would you like?" she groaned.

"I would like a mocha, heavy on the chocolate…" Kagome said with the same tone of annoyance.

"M'kay." Miyuki murmured and turned on her heels toward the kitchen.

Kagome rolled her eyes. Inuyasha chuckled at her expression.

"And what exactly is so funny?" Kagome snapped.

"You! you look so funny when you're angry!"

"Seriously? Could you do me a favor and shut the fuck up right now?" Kagome spat.

This only made Inuyasha laugh even harder.

"Oh my goodness! Did you just say fuck? Geez, im rubbing off on you more than I thought I was!"

Kagome shoved her face into her hands and breathed in deeply.

"Hey hey…calm down…its okay…this excursion isn't so bad! I mean, we went on those iron snake demons! And I got to embarrass those fat guys!" Inuyasha said reassuringly.

Kagome didn't let him see it, but she began to smile. 'Oh Inuyasha… How is it that you can make me smile even when I really dont fee like it?'

Inuyasha reached his hand out to grab hers and revealed her secret smile.

"There we go! Now was that so bad?" Inuyasha said.

"No, I guess not..." Kagome said smiling.

Kagome looked down at his hands and saw numerous cuts and scars on his hands.

"Inuyasha, did you get hurt? Why is your hands covered in cuts?" Kagome asked, grabbing and examining his hands.

Inuyasha sighed, but gave no answer.

Kagome looked up his arm further and saw even more cuts, some darker and bigger than the others. Some looked old and some looked quite fresh.

"Inuyasha, what is this? How did I not notice this?" Kagome demanded.

"You know how I said that my body is different, and that my wounds heal so quick that it doesn't seem like I got hurt at all?"

"yeah?"

"Well, when im human, all the scars that I've accumulated reveal themselves…"

"Really? Why didn't you tell me about this?" Kagome said more out of curiosity than worry.

"Well, I had no idea that I would be getting half naked in front of you, for one…" Inuyasha began. "And two, the lights are extremely bright here…I actually thought you would have seen them by now..."

" I get it…on the new moon, we have little to no light, so no wonder I would not have noticed!"

"right…"

Kagome's heart started to beat a little faster.

"So, does that mean that scar from when Sesshomaru…." Kagome began.

"Yup…its right here…" Inuyasha said, starting to take his shirt off.

"No no no! don't take off your shirt here! Let me sit next to you and you can show me!" Kagome rushed over to Inuyasha's side of the booth where no one could see what they were doing.

Inuyasha lifted his beater enough for Kagome to see. She gasped as he revealed deep grooves in his abdomen. Some parts were healed more fully than others. But overall, the sight of it was just as gruesome as the original injury itself.

Kagome smiled. 'He could have died…he's lucky that he just escaped with with these scars…"

Kagome went back to her side of the booth and continued to look at his hands. She spotted another scar on his wrist. One that seemed perfectly straight and placed above the vein.

'This seems too perfect to be a battle wound…would Inuyasha..? no, he's not like that…'

"Inuyasha, what is this? Was this a battle wound too?"

"Umm….not really…" Inuyasha mumbled, not wanting to talk about it.

"Then…what is it…?" Kagome pressed.

Inuyasha suddenly took interest in what was going outside. The rain had slowed to a gentle drizzle and the lightning ceased.

"Inuyasha…you know you can tell me anything…" Kagome whispered.

Inuyasha remained silent in deep thought. His dark eyes reflected the storm outside as well as the storm within.

Kagome hung her head and sighed. 'perhaps he's not ready yet…not ready to open up…'

"It was a long time ago…" Inuyasha began. Kagome's head shot up and saw Inuyasha still looking outside at passing pedestrians.

"when I was about 98, that would be the human equivalent of 13…I was in the middle of a terrible snowstorm, probably the worst one I've experienced. I was cold and starving. I found a small village store house and I stayed there for a night or two. Heh, I ate almost all of the food in that place…then, one day, some of the villagers came to get some of their food. I tried to hide, but they had a priest with them. Some of them thought they heard some noises in there and thought it would just be a rodent, but then someone else said they sensed something off about it. So they called the priest because they were too afraid to check it out. So they found me. They dragged me out by my hair, and threw me in the middle of the village. I was so weak from hunger, I couldn't fight them off. They grabbed any weapon they could find, sticks, hoes, pitchforks, shovels…the priest put a sutra on me and paralyzed me. They beat me for what seemed like hours. When they were finally done, they tied me to one of their horses and pushed me down the side of a big hill. Unluckily for me, it was the new moon that night…so my wounds didn't heal very quickly."

Kagome's eyes filled with tears. Her grip around his hand tightened.

"I-I was so tired…I was tired of being beaten…being mistreated…constantly running for my life…then I started feeling sorry for myself. If I wasn't born, my mother would not have died as soon as she did…she could have lived a satisfying life with plenty of children…and my father….he probably could have lived too… and Sesshomaru would not hate me…so I looked for a sharp rock, and I slit my wrists… I watched myself bleed out. I wanted to see my mother again…the only person in the world who loved me. I've had many near death experiences, but I can honestly say I was on the precipice of death that night. But I found myself alive the next morning, with a bandage around my wrist and a bowl of rice and some vegetables beside me."

Kagome grasped his hand even tighter. Inuyasha's fingers curled around hers in response. It took everything within her to not start crying. So she put her forehead on his knuckles and whispered hoarsely, "you're so strong…so much stronger than I ever imagined…"

Inuyasha remained silent , still looking outside.

The waitress Miyuki waltzed up, breaking the serene and intimate moment carrying a tray with two cups.

"Im soooo sorry! We didn't have that tea you were asking for, but we got you the best tea we have in the house!" she apologized, setting the tea in front of him. "Here's your mocha." She said, nearly throwing down Kagome's cup. Kagome was already too upset by Inuyasha's story to be angry with the inconsiderate waitress.

Inuyasha finally turned around to face her and put his hand over hers.

"It was a long time ago, Kagome. everything's fine now. you dont need to cry about it..." Inuyasha reassured.

"I cant help it... I cant stand the thought of you being hurt, past, present or future..."

Kagome raised her head and looked deep into his eyes. "I want nothing but happiness and comfort for you, Inuyasha..." Kagome choked.

They shared a moment of silence, speaking only with their eyes. Then Inuyasha turned to his drink and said nonchalantly, "Well, we better drink start drinking, otherwise it'll get cold!"

Kagome chuckled a little bit, feeling the heaviness of the conversation being lifted. she sipped a little bit from her mocha and sighed. 'at least she made it right...if she didnt, we would have problems.'

"How is you tea?" Kagome asked.

"Its alright." Inuyasha said, taking another sip. "A rather big cup for tea, but thats fine."

Kagome looked down at their mugs and remembered 'thats right, these cups are western style. traditional japanese tea cups are smaller and they dont have handles...'

"Inuyasha, why did you ask for Gyokuro tea? is that your favorite?" Kagome asked.

"you can say that. my mother and I used to drink that a lot." he said, stirring a stirring stick in his cup.

Kagome nodded and smiled. she sipped some more of her mocha and lost herself in her thoughts. Inuyasha cleared his throat to get her attention, and asked, "arent you going to let me have some?" Kagome was about to say yes, but remembered that mocha contained chocolate; and chocolate was poisonous for dogs. and Inuyasha was a dog demon. so Kagome quickly withdrew her drink when Inuyasha tried to reach for it.

"Hey!"

"You cant have any. its mine." Kagome said curtly.

"Now who is the one who is always telling me to share! C'mon! it smells great!" Inuyasha said again trying to reach for her drink.

"I said no." Kagome finalized before downing the whole cup.

"Hey! thats not fair, Kagome!" Inuyasha groaned.

"Oh *cough cough* well!" Kagome choked in between coughs. 'That was a really stupid move, why didnt I just tell him? now I've probably burned my esophagus.'

"Stingy." Inuyasha muttered.

Kagome looked outside to see that the rain had finally ceased. her mood was instantly lifted and stood up smiling.

"The rain stopped! C'mon, lets go!" Kagome said, taking Inuyasha by the hand. remembered that she had to pay the waitress. She asked for the check and quickly paid for their drinks-with no tip.

The couple ran outside into the sea of pedestrians walking to and fro outside.

"Well, the festival is probably shut down for the night. But at least we got to go. What do you say we go to the park or something?"

"Park?" Inuyasha asked.

"Its like a public garden. I'll show you." Kagome said.

The two walked silently together, Kagome's arms wrapped around Inuyasha's and her head on his shoulder.

They finally reached the park and found it to be mostly deserted. they walked along a path that was littered with puddles. Kagome playfully tried to jump over them, and Inuyasha helped by sometimes lifting her up over them. They giggled at their childish antics and soon started poking fun at each other. Eventually, they started a tickle war and started to chase each other. Inuyasha caught Kagome and swept her off of her feet squealing with glee.

"Hey Inuyasha..."

"Yeah?"

"Your father was a demon lord, right?

"Thats what they tell me."

"And your mother was a princess too, right?"

"What about it?" Inuyasha replied, not liking where the conversation was going.

"If both of your parents were of noble birth, then doesn't that make you a prince?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha's breath caught and thought over what she had just said. he had never really thought of it that way before. 'I guess I was too busy surviving after mother died that I didnt even bother to think about my heritage...'

"I guess..."

"Then, if thats the case, why dont you claim whats rightfully yours completely? yeah you have Tetsusaiga, but Im sure thats not all that you're entitled to!"

"I try not to think about it too much. It would make me too upset. Besides, its not that easy. I cant just walk in there and say 'I'm of noble birth'. When my mother had me, she gave up nearly all of her privelages. they made her choose between keeping her title and disposing of me, or keep me and dispose of her title. And she chose me." Inuyasha explained.

"Oh..."

"Besides, I couldnt claim anything even if I wanted to. All of the relatives that knew me or even knew of me on my human side, they're all dead now. its been at least 200 years."

"hmmm..." Kagome thought. "this may be a stupid question, but what about your father's side?"

"HAHA! My father's side?! If I even tried to go to their place, I would be killed on the spot! The only reason they haven't hunted me down is probably because my father begged them to spare my life. Otherwise, we wouldnt even be having this conversation." Inuyasha said with humor.

"I Dunno, the aristocratic pomp and circumstance doesnt suit me. I can't even imagine dressing up like Sesshomaru does!"

kagome giggled at the thought of Inuyasha with a similar outfit as his aristocratic brother.

"Oh... Im sorry to hear that..."

"Whats with all these personal questions, anyways?!" Inuyasha asked.

"I just want to know a little bit more about you, thats all!" Kagome answered.

"how would you feel if I started interrogating you about your family,huh?"

"I wouldn't mind. Im not nearly as secretive as you are." Kagome said matter-of-factly.

"Hmph!" Inuyasha grunted. Kagome smiled until something caught her eye.

They stopped when they noticed that they were not alone. They spotted in a field not far away from them, a group of boys about their age in a circle. Most of them were wearing beanies and thick rimmed glasses and t-shirts. "Hipsters..." Kagome muttered. " I wonder what they're doing?" Inuyasha and Kagome noticed that they were kicking a ball in between them, keeping their hands in their pockets. Inuyasha knew immediately what it was.

"They're playing Kemari..." he said softly.

"You want to go over there and join them?" Kagome offered.

Inuyasha paused and turned away, "No, lets keep going..."

"Oh c'mon, Inuyasha! Dont be such a spoiled sport! I bet you're a real pro!"

'I said no." Inuyasha reiterated.

But his words fell on deaf ears as he watched Kagome run up to the circle of hipsters.

"Excuse me!" Kagome panted. "Do you mind if me and my friend play with you guys?"

"Ummm...we're not playing *football, if thats what you're thinking..." said one of the hipsters.

"Yeah...we're playing kemari, you've probably never heard of it..." said another.

"oh but we have! and its been so long since my friend has played! it would mean the world to him! please?" Kagome begged.

they turned to look at Inuyasha, who was hiding in the shadows, unsure if he should approach.

"well, I guess it cant hurt." said one of the hipsters. "we could use a fifth player..."

"YAAAAAYY!" Kagome cheered. she ran over to her companion and dragged him in the middle of the circle.

"so, what's your name?" asked one of the hipsters, that appeared to be the leader.

"Inuyasha..." Inuyasha mumbled shyly.

"inu-what now?" said the 'leader'.

"Inuyasha." he said with a little louder.

"Inuyasha?! cool name, dude! my name is Yamato, this is Sen, Tsubasa, and Koron. you know how to play right?" Yamato inquired.

"yeah, like the back of my hand!" Inuyasha boasted.

Kagome smiled at Inuyasha's renewed confidence.

Sen lifted and kicked the ball over to Inuyasha, who kicked it right over to Tsubasa, who was not prepared and dropped the ball.

"Great shot, dude!" cheered Koron.

"Heh, not too bad! See if you can catch this!" Tsubasa kicked it back over to Inuyasha, who caught it with his foot and sent it over to to Yamato.

This went on for a couple of minutes, Kagome watching Inuyasha playing with his new acquaintances.

She was mesmerized by the bright smile plastered on Inuyasha's face. His smile seemed to glow; even brighter than the smiles she saw on his face at the festival. This smile was truly happy. He was playing his favorite game with people who did not judge him. Kagome could feel nothing but happiness. When they were finally done, the boys patted Inuyasha on the back.

"Hey, dude! Who taught you how to play so well?" asked Sen.

"Our cook back home..." Inuyasha said.

"You need to come back and play with us! Do you know how hard it is to find someone who knows how to play Kemari in this city?" said Yamato.

"I'll think about it." Inuyasha said meekly, walking over to Kagome.

"Well you think about it! We'll be here if you ever want to play again!" Yamato called to them as they walked away.

The two waved goodbye to the boys as they continued their game.

"Did you have fun?" Kagome asked.

"Y-yeah...I did..." Inuyasha said, smiling to himself.

"Y'know...I've never seen you so happy before..." Kagome said.

"Really? I've been happy plenty of times! You haven't noticed?!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

"Of course I've seen you happy, but not to the extent of what I've seen tonight..." Kagome said. "i've never seen you so...carefree..."

"Well..." Inuyasha mumbled.

"Im just saying, im glad that I could see you smile." Kagome said.

This brought another smile to Inuyasha's face. they found a bench overlooking Tokyo Bay and watched the lights from the city and from incoming boats sparkle on the dark waters. They sat in silence and rested deep in their thoughts. Kagome sighed and leaned her head on Inuyasha's shoulder.

'Such a beautiful night...even after the storm, the beauty of this place never seems to leave...' Kagome thought.

Kagome reflected on all of the events that had transpired since she fell into the bone eaters well and came to the feudal era. 'Its so nice to have a break once in a while. We've been working so hard. And time has flown by so fast. It seems like yesterday that I fell into the Bone Eater's Well and came to the feudal era. I cant believe its almost been a year since then...we all have grown in so many ways. and we're so much closer to completing the Shikon Jewel and defeating Naraku...And most of all, Inuyasha and I have grown closer than either of us anticipated. But, when the jewel is whole, what will we do?' Kagome thought sadly.

she sighed and closed her eyes. Inuyasha softly stroked Kagome's hand in comfort. Kagome smiled to herself. 'I dont know what the future holds for Inuyasha and I, but this I know for certain- whether separated or together, our futures look very bright.'

完成

My sincerest thanks to all of my readers and supporters. Its been challenging to get this story done, but I had fun doing it! I loved reading all of your comments, many of them really made my day! There was even a point where I thought of giving up on the project and say whatever. But I made it through with lots of perserverence! And its all thanks to you guys! From seeing the sheer length of this chapter and kicking it into high gear for exams and work, you can see why it took so long for me to update! But this year is coming to an end! and so is this story!

now to the questions! I know one of you guys asked how old Meimei and Itaru were. I would say that Itaru is a little bit younger than Kohaku (who is 11-14, so lets just say 12.5 ) and Meimei is about a year older than Rin. (who is 8-11, so lets just say 9.5) (Inuyasha wikia is very inprecise _)

Guest (Ami)- "you know how there are no Inuyasha movies for the final act like there were for the original series? Wouldn't it be so cool if this got turned into a movie? This is perfect for that since this kinda takes place during the final act I think."

GOTA- I thought of that as well! as a matter of fact, when all of this is playing in my head, I imagine it as a movie. Complete with title sequences, and battle music.(I know, Im a bit crazy!)I really do wish that either Takahashi-san or Viz media or SOMEBODY would come out with another movie or at least an OVA! I mean, Ranma ½ has like, IDK 12 of them?!okay enough of my ranting...

Ricebunny123- " I just got into this story and I love it so much. A friend told me about it and said I should read it and now I know why. Soooo good!"

GOTA- You have no idea how happy this made me. Seriously...I feel like a legit writer, getting recommendations and ish XD. Again, Thank you and your friend!

Guest- "Wow! What a chapter *thumbs up*! I think in the last chapter you should do the characters from the present and do like a flash forward where Itaru is being born or something to show how time moved since they lost their memory. THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!"

GOTA- you kind of read my mind there!

An announcement I feel should be made, I am sorry to say, but this is going to be my final fanfiction. I need to start focusing on my career goals and getting done with school. It has always been a dream of mine to be a best selling author. Here, Im nowhere near a best seller, but at least I could express a simple portion of my imagination with you guys here on . I dont know what its like for you guys, but when I get a story in my head, it wont go away until I put it on paper (or my computer)! I promise to finish the rest of my fanfictions sooner or later, but dont hold your breath. I just had to finish this one because, in a way, it is my farewell tribute to my favorite anime in the whole world. I doubt I will find a manga/anime with the same character development and plot like Inuyasha. But all good things must come to an end, right?

So this is my swan song for fanfictions. but who knows? You might see me on the New york times best sellers some time. Not under my pen name, but under the name M.J Woodard :)

until then, 再见朋友们！

-GOTA

*yakitori-A Japanese dish of chicken pieces grilled on a skewer.

*yakisoba-Fried Japanese soba (buckwheat noodles).

*okonomiyaki-Okonomiyaki are savory Japanese pancakes that were traditionally cooked to use up left overs in the refrigerator. Due to this tradition — ingredients are flexible. The most popular ingredients are pork, seafood and cheese.

*dango-A Japanese dumpling made from mochiko (rice flour). Dango are similar to mochi (there's a common misconception that they are mochi). They're often served with a sauce that's sweet and salty.

gyokuro- a high-grade tea made in Japan from the leaves of shaded bushes and used for domestic consumption

football-soccer. the USA is the only place in the world that calls it soccer. In the rest of the world (including Japan) it is called Football.


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